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Springer (G1)

2017-04-27T00:55:27Z

7Crimsonified7: /* Marvel The Transformers comics */

{{factions|autobot|wreckers|autobotg2}}
{{disambig3|Springer}}
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:''Springer is an [[Autobot]] from the [[Generation 1 continuity family|Generation 1]] [[continuity family]].''
[[File:Springer-decipherthedecepticon.jpg|upright=2.2|thumb|You're all clear kid, now let's blow this thing and go home!]]
'''Springer''' is the archetypal action hero: great in a fight, unselfconsciously brave, confident, and always ready with a dead-pan sarcastic quip to lighten the moment. Someone you can depend on to ride in, save the day and be smug about it.

Though his easy self-confidence is one of his most notable features, actually being responsible for others weighs heavily upon his otherwise jocular personality. Nonetheless, Springer ascended to lead the [[Wrecker]]s. He has twice been named as [[Hot Rod|Rodimus Prime]]'s successor to take the [[Matrix of Leadership]] and lead the Autobots, though neither one actually came to pass.

Springer combines the thrusting power of his legs with his retro thrusters to move rapidly through the battlefield, leaping tall structures in a single bound. Although he is quite speedy, he is not faster than [[Superman|a speeding bullet]].

Sometimes he is previously known as '''Ostaros'''.

{{quote|I've got better things to do tonight than die.|Springer in the defense of [[Autobot City (G1)|Autobot City]]|''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]''}}

==Fiction==
===Generation 1 cartoon continuity===
====''The Transformers'' cartoon====
{{voiceactor|[[Neil Ross]] (English), [[Kenyū Horiuchi]] (Japanese)|[[Li Danqing]] (Chinese), [[Willi Röbke]] (German, "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 1–4" and "Nightmare Planet"), [[Peter Musäus]] (German), [[Ulrich Bernsdorff]] (German, "Webworld"), [[Bernd Simon]] (German, "Fight or Flee" and "Ghost in the Machine"), [[Frank Muth]] (German, ''The Movie'' TV dub), [[Pierre Hatet]] (French, ''The Movie''), [[Roberto Alexander]] (Spanish)}}

[[File:Springerarceecmonwoman.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|C'mon, woman!]]
Springer was among the first Autobots to leap into the [[Battle of Autobot City]] in 2005. He helped [[Arcee (G1)|Arcee]] transform the city into its heavily-armed, armored fortress configuration, and later used an oversized piece of artillery to bombard [[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]].

[[File:Springer launcher devastator.jpg|right|upright=1.4|thumb|"Springer go make boom-boom now."]]
When [[Unicron]] made his existence known to the Autobots by destroying two of [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]'s moons, Springer was among those who left Earth aboard a shuttle to stop the Chaos-Bringer somehow. The ship Springer was aboard crashlanded on the planet [[Junkion (planet)|Junk]], where a battle erupted between the Autobots and the native [[Junkion (species)|Junkions]], during which Springer dueled with the Junkion chieftain, [[Wreck-Gar (G1)|Wreck-Gar]].

After arriving at Cybertron, Springer and the other Autobots wound up inside Unicron himself, where they desperately fought off Unicron's internal defenses. Luckily, just as one of the defensive claws was about to crush him, [[Hot Rod/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Hot Rod]] opened the Matrix of Leadership, destroying Unicron and becoming Rodimus Prime. Springer and the rest escaped the monster by driving out through its eye and into space. {{storylink|The Transformers: The Movie}}
{{note|Springer’s involvement in these events, or events mostly similar, were also chronicled in the comic mini-series “[[Transformers: The Animated Movie]],” the storybook “[[Transformers the Movie (Ladybird adaptation)|Transformers the Movie]]" and the "Special Edition The Transformers: The Movie extra page" of "[[Transformers: The Ultimate Pop-Up Universe]]."}}

[[File:Springerfivefacescopter.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|The physics of this makes no sense.]]
A year later, Springer attended the first [[Galactic Olympics]] alongside his fellow Autobots. Unfortunately, the festivities were interrupted by an [[Skuxxoid|alien mercenary]] who turned the Olympic torch into a giant flash/smoke grenade, and then a battalion of [[Sharkticon (G1)|Sharkticons]] attacked. Springer was able to douse the torch from the air, but by then, the attackers had already fled, having captured [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ultra Magnus]], [[Kup (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Kup]] and [[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike Witwicky]]. Springer immediately volunteered to track the escaped alien saboteur, and was joined by Arcee. They followed their quarry to his strange base ship, an asteroid-like spacecraft referred to as a "[[Rockeroid]]". The mercenary fled after misleading his pursuers into believing that the Decepticons were behind the attack, and Springer was fortunately able to pilot his ship (barely). {{storylink|Five Faces of Darkness, Part 1}}

Springer flew the Rockeroid to the distant planet [[Chaar]], where he arrived just in time to save Rodimus Prime and [[Grimlock (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Grimlock]] from being beaten to scrap by a mob of Decepticons. Later, a badly-damaged Rodimus prepared to pass the Matrix on to Springer in anticipation of his imminent demise. Fortunately, the Autobot leader did not die, but rather experienced the Cybertronian equivalent of a near-death experience, wherein his [[Spark|"life force"]] left his body to embark on a very trippy (and poorly animated) journey into the Matrix itself. Immediately afterwards, Springer participated in a daring rescue mission to save Ultra Magnus and the others from the [[Quintesson]]s, only for the group's ship to get caught in the explosion of [[Quintessa]]. {{storylink|Five Faces of Darkness, Part 2}}

Before long, they all wound up on [[Goo 8739B]], where Springer was disassembled by the planet's mobile garbage disposal unit. {{storylink|Five Faces of Darkness, Part 3}} Fortunately, he was rebuilt and restored to life by the Junkions. As Rodimus contemplated the mysteries of the Quintessons, Springer advised the others to leave him alone, give him some room to think, and trust him not to do anything rash. When he found that Rodimus had scrambled his own circuitry to enter the Matrix, Springer expressed his disapproval to his commanding officer in a calm and respectful manner. {{storylink|Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4}}

{{quote|Are you CRAZY?! Why'd you short-circuit yourself?! Get up, you... you moron!|Springer}}

Springer and the others returned to Cybertron in time to defend against a major Decepticon offensive. {{storylink|Five Faces of Darkness, Part 5}}

[[File:DarkAwakening-Springer.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a blaster by your-''WHERE'S MY BLASTER?!'']]
Sometime later, Springer, [[Perceptor (G1)|Perceptor]], Grimlock and [[Skydive (G1 Aerialbot)|Skydive]] were on-hand when [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] miraculously returned from the dead, telling tales of how Rodimus, Arcee and an Autobot shuttle crew gave their lives against the Quintessons so that he could escape, and return to Cybertron. Springer eagerly jumped on the bandwagon to follow Optimus and the entire Autobot fleet to hunt down the Quintessons and avenge Arcee and his friends. ''Especially'' Arcee. He was on board the flagship when Rodimus and the others, alive and well, intercepted the fleet and stopped the Quintesson trap from being sprung. {{storylink|Dark Awakening (episode)|Dark Awakening}}

When a strange unidentified ship entered Cybertronian air space, Rodimus Prime sent [[Blurr (G1)|Blurr]] and Springer out to rescue the occupant before he crash-landed. Inside, they found the long-lost Autobot Triple Changer known as [[Sandstorm (G1)|Sandstorm]], who now lived on a peaceful planet called [[Paradron]] which had just been invaded by the Decepticons. As the Autobots returned to Paradron to overthrow the Decepticon oppressors, Springer teamed up with Rodimus and Sandstorm to free the captive Paradronians. {{storylink|Fight or Flee (episode)|Fight or Flee}}

[[File:NightmarePlanetSteed.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|For Narnia!]]
Springer and Ultra Magnus picked up an electromagnetic disturbance in a remote region of Cybertron, and drove out with Rodimus Prime to investigate. They were ambushed by a [[Predacon (G1)|Predacon]] assassination squad, but ''all'' the Transformers were ambushed again by the Quintessons' latest toy: a device which turned the nightmarish dreams of [[Daniel Witwicky (G1)|Daniel Witwicky]] into physical reality. Springer and the Predacon commander [[Razorclaw (G1)|Razorclaw]] were kidnapped by a massive [[dragon]] and flown off to an isolated castle. Tossed into the dungeon, Springer and Razorclaw met a [[Fairy-tale princess|princess]] being held captive by the dragon. Going with the flow, Springer took up her quest to defeat the dragon and return the princess to her father. Knight Springer and his faithful steed Razorclaw, whom the princess had promised [[gold]] as reward, escaped the dungeon and took up the search for the "magic [[lance]]" necessary to kill the dragon. Riding into battle atop the Predacon's back, Springer plunged the lance into the dragon's chest and then followed the yellow brick road back to his friends. {{storylink|Nightmare Planet}}

While on monitor duty on Cybertron, Springer and Blurr caught sight of [[Astrotrain (G1)|Astrotrain]] on what appeared to be an attack vector. After the [[Protectobot (G1)|Protectobots]] shot him down, the Autobots learned his "assault" was just the latest in a series of recent events involving [[Scourge (G1)|Scourge]] and [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream's ghost]], who had stolen the eyes of [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]] and [[Trypticon (G1)|Trypticon]] for Unicron. Springer joined Ultra Magnus and the Protectobots on a spy mission to Unicron's head in order to investigate further, but they were violently repulsed by the Planet-Eater's internal defenses. Things got even more complicated once Scourge turned on his "partners" and reported to the Autobots that Unicron planned to use Trypticon's transforming cog to connect himself to Cybertron, and convert the entire planet into his new body. Luckily, Springer and the others were able to <s>casually chuck</s> plant energon explosives at the base of Unicron's head as he touched down, blasting him back out into space before he could connect with the planet. {{storylink|Ghost in the Machine (G1)|Ghost in the Machine}}

On a geological survey to uncover [[isidrite]] for their weaponry, Springer and the Autobots were attacked by [[Galvatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Galvatron]]'s forces, seeking the mineral for their own purposes. Luckily, Galvatron beat up most of his own troops for them, giving the Autobots a chance to depart. {{storylink|Webworld}}

[[File:VampireDepth.jpg|left|upright=1.4|thumb|Coooookiiiieeees.]]
When Perceptor finished construction of a new experimental power core for Cybertron, Springer used his helicopter mode to lower the core into place. Naturally, the Decepticons attempted to acquire the power core for themselves, but were led astray by their Quintesson "allies" who instead directed them towards the [[Hibernation Chamber]] of the [[Trans-Organic]]s. Springer and the other Autobots caught up with the 'Cons just in time to find them in pitched battle with the unleashed Trans-Organics, including the massive and monstrous power-sapping [[Dweller]]. The Dweller drained the energy from its victims on contact, then placed them inside incubation tubes on its back. [[Wreck-Gar (G1)|Wreck-Gar]] and three [[Sweep (G1)|Sweeps]] were among its first victims. Springer valiantly scaled the creature and tore open its rear casing to free his friend and renew his series for another season. No good deed goes unpunished, though, for the creature had transformed Wreck-Gar into a [[Energy vampire|vampiric]] extension of itself, an undead robot who drained energy from others to feed it back into the Dweller itself. Springer became a victim of the very robot he tried to save. Luckily, Perceptor was able to concoct a method of correcting their power imbalance, restoring Springer, Wreck-Gar and the other victims to normal. The Dweller was launched into space once it latched onto the power core, thanks to Perceptor's bizarre security measures which allowed him to jettison the entire unit with the pull of a lever. {{storylink|The Dweller in the Depths}}

[[File:SpringerOnlyHuman.jpg|upright=0.9|thumb|Surprise, he's the green one!]]
Somewhere on Earth (it doesn't really matter where) a crime spree was raging, and the Autobots were called in to help. Springer lent his helicopter mode to rescue civilians trapped in burning buildings during a series of bombings. Springer, Arcee, Ultra Magnus and Rodimus Prime were called in by an anonymous tip that would be their "big break in the case". Springer laughed off the police chief when he suggested it might be a dangerous trap, but he stopped laughing when [[Victor Drath]] and "[[Cobra Commander|Old Snake]]" captured the Autobots inside of a minute. Not one to waste resources, Drath eliminated his enemies and developed powerful new weapons at the same time by converting the four Autobots' mental essence into synthetic organic forms. He ordered the organic material destroyed but, surprisingly, it seemed to form itself into four genuinely human bodies for the Autobots. Springer and the "Autobots" escaped Drath's thugs in the scrapyard where they were being disposed of, and sought cover in a nearby shed. In the sort of plot contrivance not revived until ''Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers'' years later, the Autobots found four matching jumpsuits inside, each perfectly replicating their individual color schemes. As a human, Springer faced some tough lessons, like shaving and dealing with sidewalk preachers.

[[File:Only-human-springer-helicoptermode.jpg|upright=1.1|left||thumb|Ultra-Titan-Masterpiece Springer - it's ''bigger'' than the real thing.]]
After finding Drath's men test-driving the Autobots' now-inanimate bodies in the city, Springer ingratiated himself with the gang due to his ability to "pilot" the Autobot like a pro. The gang was set to infiltrate Autobot City inside their robot drones and then detonate Metroplex from the inside-out. After learning the plan, Springer carjacked himself (rescuing the captured Ultra Magnus in the process) and then flew to intercept the other Autobots before they reached Autobot City. Desperate to keep the Autobots from innocently letting their "friends" inside, Springer opened fire on Autobot City himself in order to force the Autobots to raise their defenses before the explosive-laden vehicles got too close. He succeeded in getting himself shot out of the sky, but at least Metroplex was put on alert and the bombing of Autobot City was stopped. Perceptor whipped up a reversal-transference doodad, and Springer and the others were returned to their rightful bodies. {{storylink|Only Human}}

After Galvatron's goons sabotaged the master power generator on Cybertron with [[anti-electron]]s, the Autobots began experiencing system irregularities. In Springer's case, he was attempted to fly [[Sky Lynx (G1)|Sky Lynx]] to the repair bay when he transformed in mid-air and crashed instead. The problem was eventually corrected, but surely Springer missed out on a good opportunity to tease Sky Lynx about tarnishing his "oh so perfect" flight record. {{storylink|Grimlock's New Brain}}

[[File:CotP-BlasterEject.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb|Blaster, please, now isn't the time for this!]]
On a barren planetoid, Springer was fighting alongside Rodimus Prime, Ultra Magnus and [[Blaster (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Blaster]] against the Decepticons. They were pinned down in the trenches, waiting for "[[Sky Lynx (G1)|Commander Modesty]]" to arrive and lend some air support. Once he arrived, though, Sky Lynx and the other "[[primitive]]s" on both sides were called into space by a signal only they could hear. Before either side could fully comprehend what had happened, a massive energy creature known as [[Tornedron]] arrived, draining them dry of their energy. Luckily, Grimlock and the primitives eventually managed to save the universe and undo the power loss suffered by Springer and the others. {{storylink|Call of the Primitives}}

During a skirmish in [[Japan]], Springer was present when Rodimus temporarily reverted to Hot Rod. He and the other Autobots held off an attack by the Decepticons when Scourge briefly took control of them and the Matrix of Leadership. {{storylink|The Burden Hardest to Bear}}
{{-}}
{{charstubfiction|{{storylink|Forever Is a Long Time Coming (episode)|Forever Is a Long Time Coming}}}}

====Japanese cartoon continuity====
=====''Transformers Legends'' comic (1)=====
In the [[Legends Universe]], upon recognizing [[Arcee (G1)|Arcee]] from ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]'', [[Rhinox (BW)|Rhinox]] and [[Tigatron]] recalled the scene where she fought [[Unicron]]'s inner defenses alongside Springer and Kup. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 10|Bonus Edition Vol. 10}}

In [[2004]], Springer was a founding member of a new Autobot unit known as the [[Wrecker]]s. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 7|Bonus Edition Vol. 7}}

=====Wars manga=====
{{charstubfiction|{{storylink|Rodimus Wars}}}}

=====''The Story of Super Robot Lifeforms''=====
Responding to an SOS from deep space, a team of Autobots including Springer helped rescue a human spacecraft from the jaws of a spaceship-eating Decepticon vessel. {{storylink|The Story of Super Robot Lifeforms: The Transformers issue 1|The Story of Super Robot Lifeforms: The Transformers #1}}

When the Autobots were attacked by the [[Megatron Corps]], Springer speculated that perhaps the Quintesson were behind this new threat. The Megatrons proved to be tough opponents, and Springer and the other Autobots encouraged Rodimus to get away to safety while they held the Megatrons back, but the Autobot leader refused. Soon, it was discovered that one of the Megatrons was Galvatron in disguise, who was remote-controlling the duplicate Megatrons himself. Rodimus dispatched Galvatron, and the Megatrons lost power, allowing Springer and [[Kup (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Kup]] to make short work of them. {{storylink|The Story of Super Robot Lifeforms: The Transformers issue 2|The Story of Super Robot Lifeforms: The Transformers #2}}

Springer was part of the Autobot team who traveled to the planet [[Feminia]] to defend its [[Prime Energy Tower]] against a Decepticon attack. Though things looked grim when [[Predaking (G1)|Predaking]] joined the fight, the Autobots wound up winning the day when the [[Omnibot (G1)|Omnibot]]s showed up and toppled the Decepticon into its fellow combiners [[Bruticus (G1)|Bruticus]], [[Menasor (G1)|Menasor]], and [[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]]. {{storylink|The Story of Super Robot Lifeforms: The Transformers issue 5|The Story of Super Robot Lifeforms: The Transformers #5}}

=====''The Great Transformer War''=====
After the resurrection of Optimus Prime, Springer battled [[Scourge (G1)|Scourge]] and the other Decepticons in deep space. {{storylink|The Great Transformer War issue 3|The Great Transformer War #3}}

=====''The Headmasters'' cartoon=====
Alongside [[Sandstorm (G1)|Sandstorm]] and [[Broadside (G1)|Broadside]], Springer was sent from [[Athenia]] to Cybertron in order to defend against a major Decepticon assault. {{storylink|Four Warriors Come out of the Sky}} The Triple Changers then travelled to Earth, where they helped [[Blaster (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Twincast]] sneak into [[Trypticon (G1)|Trypticon]] by keeping their Decepticon counterparts busy with a dogfight. {{storylink|The Great Cassette Operation}}

=====''Transformers Legends'' comic (2)=====
After his separation from Arcee, Springer began to eat his feelings and, by the [[2030]]s, his Wrecker teammates began to show concern for his increased girth. Embarrassed, Springer vowed to turn his life around. When [[Whirl (G1)#Transformers Legends comic|Whirl]] and [[Roadbuster (G1)#Transformers Legends comic|Roadbuster]] told him of their homeplace of the [[Legends Universe|Legends World]] and that he could get a new body there, Springer contacted [[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]] there, who created a portal for them to pass over. There, Springer got a new, sleek body from [[Rhinox (BW)#Transformers Legends comic|Rhinox]], and he immediately got a cadre of admirers. {{storylink|LG19 Sprung Prologue}} This drove [[Tigatron]] to jealously, and he stole Alpha Trion's [[10.2 ultra-drill|ultra-drill]] to bring in women from across the [[multiverse]] to adore the tiger. They all ultimately turned their attentions to Springer. Eventually, Springer came across the Legends Universe's [[Arcee (G1)#Transformers Legends comic|Arcee]], who he confused as [[Arcee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|his Arcee]]. After being corrected, Springer asked her out, but was immediately turned down. In shame, Springer fled back to his home dimension. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 19|Bonus Edition Vol. 19}}

====Madman ''The Transformers'' comic====
Springer aided in the Autobots' exodus of Cybertron when, in the year 2001, the Decepticons had managed to conquer the entire planet. He helped a wounded Wheeljack get aboard a spaceship as Optimus Prime covered their escape. {{storylink|The Transformers (Madman)|The Transformers}}

====''Wings Universe''====
{{Wingsnote}}
At the dawn of the [[Machine Wars (event)|Machine Wars]], Springer was granted full access to a "confiscated weapons" hold to better equip himself against [[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]] and his clone army. After arming himself to the teeth, he followed [[Strika (BM)|Strika]] and [[Obsidian (BM)|Obsidian]] into battle against the invaders. {{storylink|Termination}}

====Ask Vector Prime====
In a universe where [[Sideways (RID)|Sideways]] and [[Renegade#Gong|Gong]] had mixed [[GoBot]]s into the [[Unicron War]], Springer helped fight off [[Cy-Kill (GoBots)|Cy-Kill]]'s ambush on Autobot City. He fired on [[Renegade#Water Walk|Water Walk]] and teamed up with Arcee to help shift the fortress into its defensive configuration.

Then the universes twisted around each other, creating a timeline where the [[Guardian (GoBots)|Guardian]]s were besieged by Decepticons—a timeline where Springer never existed—and then a new timeline where members of all four factions were running around. After the death of [[Leader-1 (GoBots)|Leader-1]] and the advance of Unicron, Springer was forced to flee Earth with [[Guardian (GoBots)#Major Mo|Major Mo]], Arcee, Nick, and A.J. when Galvatron and his new minions [[Fracture (Movie)|Fracture]] and [[Deadlift]] attacked.

Springer's ship was shot down over [[Quartex (planet)|Quartex]], where they encountered [[Rock Lord#Magmar|Magmar]]'s evil [[Rock Lord]]s. When Kup and Hot Rod arrived from [[Antares 3|Antares III]], the re-united forces forged an alliance with [[Rock Lord#Boulder|Boulder]]'s heroic Rock Lords and drove off the villains. The Autobots, Guardians, [[Guardian (GoBots)#RoGuns|RoGun]]s, and Rock Lords made their way to Cybertron, where they battled Unicron. Unbeknownst to any, [[Vector Prime]] had fixed the crumbling reality from behind the scenes, and restored the Matrix to its normal state, allowing for Hot Rod to become Rodimus Prime and save the day. {{storylink|Echoes and Fragments}}

====''Deviations''====
In a world where Optimus survived the Battle of Autobot City, Springer was aboard Ultra Magnus’s shuttle; on Optimus’s orders, they planned to return to Cybertron and finish the Decepticons before they could regroup.

On the way back to Cybertron, the Autobot convoy was attacked by “Megascream” – the new leader of the Decepticons, a reformatted Starscream now in service of Unicron. Hot Rod impulsively decided to reverse the engines, and his maneuver warped the ship to the [[Tyrolian Quadrant]], above the planet Junkion. With the shuttle now critically damaged, Springer yelled at Hot Rod for his recklessness; although Hot Rod and Daniel ejected aboard an escape pod, the other members of the ship died when the shuttle exploded over Junkion. {{storylink|Transformers: Deviations|Deviations}}

===Marvel ''The Transformers'' comics===
{{noteukexclusive|Springer}}
[[File:Triplechangerstarget2006.jpg|left|upright=1.4|thumb|This trinity's going to war!]]
Springer was a member of the Wreckers commando squad, originally meant (with the other Triple Changers) to substitute for [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Ultra Magnus]] in [[Operation: Volcano]] to fend off the [[Decepticon]] reinforcements while the other Wreckers dealt with Cybertron's deadliest. [[Emirate]] [[Xaaron]] decided to the best way to convince [[Impactor (G1)|Impactor]] that Springer, [[Broadside (G1)|Broadside]] and [[Sandstorm (G1)|Sandstorm]] were up to replace Magnus was by having them pretend to be Decepticons and beating the [[Slag (slang)|slag]] out of him. So that's more or less what they did. Except they had to gang up against him. While he was unarmed. And with an [[inhibitor claw]] on his back. Nonetheless they did impress the Wreckers leader, and quickly begun training in [[Debris]]. But even as Volcano began, there were still worries that the three newcomers might not be enough to replace Magnus. Ultimately, Volcano did not take place, instead being replaced by Impactor having half his head blown off by a [[Macabre|nobody Decepticon]]. After blowing Macabre away, Springer and the Wreckers watched Impactor's life pass away. Evidently particularly impressed by Springer, Impactor chose him as his replacement to lead his motley crew. {{storylink|Target: 2006}}

[[File:Magnus springer under fire.jpg|thumb|upright=1.6]|"Springer, I swear this is just pollen."]
Despite Springer being placed in this position of authority, he continued to unquestioningly take orders from Ultra Magnus. Under his command, they tracked down what Magnus thought was a Decepticon spy disguised as Optimus Prime, and prepared to gun him down. Unbeknownst to them, the Autobot commander was the genuine article. The execution was interrupted by Outback, who distracted Springer and his Wreckers with a gas particle bomb in order to allow Prime to escape. Springer was unperturbed by this turn of events, and assured Ultra Magnus that his troops would catch up to the escapees in a few breems. Magnus requested instead that he be allowed to chase down the "spy" himself, borrowing a trio of [[Guardian (Marvel)|Guardian]] units to do so. {{storylink|Under Fire!}} Doubt began to creep into Magnus's mind as he pursued his quarry, however. Springer and the other Wreckers joined in chasing the "spy" while [[Xaaron|Emirate Xaaron]] was called in to voice his opinion on the situation. Springer, Whirl, Broadside and Sandstorm were the ones who located the target first, but Xaaron arrived in time to recognize that Optimus truly was who he purported to be, and Optimus was welcomed back into the fold. {{storylink|Distant Thunder!}} Afterwards Prime rallied the Autobot forces on Cybertron, leading Springer and the other Wreckers on raids to secure Decepticon-held ressources. The last of these raids launched without Optimus present however, as it served as a distraction, allowing him to face off against Megatron while Springer and the others kept the Decepticon rank-and-file occupied. {{storylink|Resurrection!}}

After the super-Decepticon [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]] wound up trapped in the hardened lava-flow of [[Mount Verona]] on Earth, Springer sent three of his soldier, [[Sizzle (G1)|Sizzle]], [[Guzzle (G1)|Guzzle]], and [[Fizzle]], to keep tabs on him. But when their first report came in, they had shocking news: not only had Galvatron broken free from his prison, but the trio had lost track of him after he had made his way to the Ocean floor off the coast of Florida. Springer was at a loss on what to do next, considering that Galvatron had proved near-invincible in the past. {{storylink|Enemy Action!}}

[[File:Generic autobots marvel uk 166.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.3|Being nuked is no excuse for lack of proper hallway etiquette, Springer. ]]
Springer felt unworthy of his role as leader, and suffered from worries that he couldn't handle it, worries made worse when he proved unprepared as [[Kalis]] was overrun by the undead. Upon facing Impactor's [[zombie]], Springer mentally crumbled, rendering him completely ineffective against the shambling horde. The Wreckers were captured by the zombies' master, the mad scientist [[Flame (Marvel)|Flame]], and the lot of them were put in a cell guarded by the undead Impactor. As they were all fitted with [[inhibitor band]]s, preventing them from transforming, Springer's leaping abilities presented the Wrecker's with only one means of escape; the tormented Triple Changer would have to overcome his self-doubt, and jump through a ceiling grate to reach the surface. Xaaron convinced Springer to once more believe in himself, but as he made the jump, Impactor grabbed a hold of Springer, and both burst into the ventilation ducting above. By imploring him to fight Flame's control, Springer succeeded in getting Impactor's mind to resurface, allowing him to carry on to meet up with Ultra Magnus's team. {{storylink|Legion of the Lost!}} After informing Magnus's team of had been going on, Springer doubled back to put an end to the crazed scientist's schemes. As they walked, Springer learned that Magnus had also recently made a questionable decision as leader of his unit; letting his Decepticon captive, [[Flywheels]], go in order to secure reinforcements. Springer sympathized with his fellow commander, as they both were forced to make impossible decisions and live with the consequences.

[[File:Springer sparkabots magnus meltdown.jpg|thumb|upright=1.95]]
By the time Springer's group made it back to the Wreckers' cell, the prisoners had already freed themselves and made short work of another legion of zombies. Both groups merged, only to find their path blocked by a massive blast door. Taking [[Broadside (G1)|Broadside]] with him, Springer headed for the surface once more, this time to grab some heavy armament and blast through this newest obstacle. They didn't get far before coming upon [[Trypticon (G1)|Trypticon]]! But the massive Decepticon was on their side; Flywheels had come through with reinforcements after all. With the behemoth's help, the Autobots breached Flame's inner sanctum, though a little too late. The planetary engines were already destabilizing, and the only way to shut them down was to go into a control room already bathed in deadly radiation. Springer volunteered to lay down his life for the mission, but Xaaron insisted on doing it himself. Cutting through the remnants of Flame's zombie army, Springer made it back to the surface... and was soon joined by Xaaron after all! It turned out, the undead Impactor had once more sacrificed himself to save his homeworld. Springer and the Autobots stood in solemn silence, paying homage to their fallen comrade for his heroism. {{storylink|Meltdown!}}

[[File:Nightstickwreckinghavoc.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.6]]
That done, it was time for the main mission: Take the Wreckers to Earth to face [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]]. Springer helped prepare for the journey while Ultra Magnus and the Sparkler Mini-bots found themselves getting roped into another mission on Cybertron. {{storylink|Deadly Games!}} Unfortunately, Springer's team found themselves sent by the [[space bridge]] to a human city, as Galvatron was meeting with two other time-displaced Decepticons, [[Cyclonus (G1)|Cyclonus]] and [[Scourge (G1)|Scourge]]. Though this threatened to compromise the mission immediately, the Wreckers nonetheless threw themselves at their foe. As Springer had predicted, the fight against Galvatron began causing major destruction and endangerment of human life, so he decided to lure Cyclonus and Scourge away, pretending he'd captured Galvatron's time-jump device. The rest of his team quickly followed, saving Springer from getting killed by the two Decepticon stooges, but allowing Galvatron to escape in the process. The mission a failure, Springer led the Wreckers back to Cybertron with the intent of returning for Galvatron later. {{storylink|Wrecking Havoc}}

[[File:Uk203 cover detail.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|"See Springer, that's the difference between you and I. Organization. Careful thinking. Forward
planning. And that is why I sleep in the arms of a beautiful woman and you spend your evenings alone in your bedsit. With ''cheap porn''."]]
On their homeworld, Springer managed to form a tenuous alliance with [[Carnivac (G1)|Carnivac]]'s [[Mayhem Attack Squad]]; a time storm resulting from the super-Decepticon's prolonged stay in the past had formed, threatening all of reality and convincing the Decepticons to aid in the Wreckers' mission to return him to his proper era. Unfortunately, by the time the Autobots' [[Advance Surveillance Unit]] located Galvatron once more, he had formed an alliance with "[[Straxus (G1)|Megatron]]." Even with the support of the Decepticons, the Wreckers were massacred, with Springer's order to retreat and fight a running battle doing nothing to stop the slaughter. He did manage to speak with Scourge during the battle though, convincing him to help in mending the [[time rift]] by fetching Cyclonus's body. Furthermore, Springer's heroism impressed Mayhem leader [[Carnivac (G1)|Carnivac]] so much he disobeyed his orders to kill the surviving Autobots; the two also saved each other's life during the battle. {{storylink|Time Wars}}

[[File:Survivors marvel uk 222.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.7]]
In the battle's aftermath, Springer and his remaining teammates were left stranded on Earth, with their compatriots on Cybertron telling them they were unable to send over a new ship. Growing frustrated and paranoid, the Wreckers began to believe that the other Autobots were embarrassed by their task force, and were purposely ignoring them. They were approached by Carnivac and Catilla, who felt equally abandoned by their own faction. With them was another Decepticon [[Pretender]], [[Snarler]], who still felt that allying with the Autobots constituted treason. Himself hesitant to join forces, Springer was relieved when Inferno reported on a procession of emergency vehicles passing by, and used this development to postpone the conversation. Springer, Inferno, and Broadside investigated while the Decepticons hung back.

The Autobots found [[Skids (G1)|Skids]], recently released from [[Limbo]], threatening to explode the [[Hudden Nuclear Power Plant]] in order to eradicate several monsters that had spawned from his dreams in the nether-dimension. Springer and the others managed to talk him down from triggering a nuclear meltdown, but hesitated in killing the monsters, fearing that their destruction would lead to Skids's death. The odds stacked against them, Springer called upon the Decepticons they had met earlier for aid. Snarler and Catilla arrived in time to turn the tide of battle and all of the monsters were killed. Better yet, it turned out that Skids could survive independently from the monsters after all! Fighting alongside Carnivac once more put to rest any doubts Springer had; he readily accepted the Decepticon's offer to band together. Their group branded themselves the "[[Survivors]]," with Springer becoming their leader. {{storylink|Survivors!}}

[[File:Springer broadside inferno skids survival run.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4]]
Carnivac eventually chafed under his leadership, and whacked Springer one, while ranting that he had grown tired of rescuing humans all the time. Though Catilla tried to convince Springer to have patience with the Decepticon, Carnivac's outburst convinced Springer that they would never see eye-to-eye. Unfortunately for Carnivac, he left Springer's group right when a new Mayhem Attacked Squad arrived to kill him! {{storylink|Way of the Warrior}} When he learned of Carnivac's plight, Springer decided that their teammate had forfeited his membership to the Survivors already, and thus was on his own to deal with his attackers. Catilla was outraged by this verdict, and left to help out his fellow ex-Decepticon. Springer turned to his fellow Autobots, looking for approval for his decision, only to be met with glares and scowls. {{storylink|Survival Run}} He was convinced by the others to go to Carnivac's aid, but while Carnivac was saved, [[Catilla (G1)|Catilla]] was killed. {{storylink|A Savage Place!}}
{{-}}

====Earthforce====
{{earthforcefiction}}
[[File:Wolf in the Fold Springer.jpg|left|upright=0.85|thumb|Grrrrr. >:(]]
Springer wanted to wait for the Mayhem Attack Squad to make the first mistake before seeking vengeance for Catilla, but Carnivac couldn't wait. He set off on his own to enact his revenge. Without time to formulate a decent plan, Springer realized the Survivors would need raw numbers to defeat the Mayhems, and that meant dealing with [[Grimlock (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Grimlock]] and [[Earthforce]]. Asking for help to save a Decepticon... Springer ruminated that Grimlock was likely to declare them all traitors on the spot. {{storylink|Wolf in the Fold!}} Still, they went to Earthforce, pledging the Survivors' allegiance in return for them helping rescue Carnivac. Upon storming the beach where the Mayhems were holed up however, Springer learned from Bludgeon that they were apparently too late; according to him, Carnivac was already dead! However, it turned out that Carnivac had only faked his death by allowing the destruction of his Pretender shell. He turned up just as Springer was about to execute Bludgeon in revenge, staying the Autobot's hand in order to deny Bludgeon a warrior's death. The remaining Mayhems were taken into Autobot custody, Snarler, Needlenose, and Spinister having already met their end at Carnivac's hands. {{storylink|Where Wolf?}}

[[File:Starscream survivors divide and conquer.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1]]
Soon thereafter, the Earth-based Decepticons under [[Starscream (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Starscream]] and [[Soundwave (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Soundwave]] attempted to divide the Autobots' attention, staging a full-scale assault on [[Earthbase]] while Starscream secured a [[Oil tanker|tanker full of fuel]] in the meantime. While the main Earthforce defended their base, however, Springer led the Survivors in fighting back against Starscream's energy-stealing attempt. {{storylink|Divide and Conquer!}} When [[Superion (G1)|Superion]] came under the mental thrall of one of [[Bombshell (G1)|Bombshell]]'s cerebro shells, Springer acompanied Grimlock and [[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]] in their attempts to stop the rampaging combiner. Superion proved to be too powerful to stop with brute force, and so the Autobots coerced [[Irwin Spoon (G1)|Irwin Spoon]] into infiltrating Superion's infra-structure, and removing the cerebro shell manually. Irwin succeeded in the nick of time, stopping Superion just before Springer and the others were forced to open fire on him to prevent a township from being crushed. {{storylink|Inside Story!}}
{{-}}

====Marvel UK future timelines====
{{note|The movie adaptation, originally published by Marvel US, is in italics}}
''At some point, earlier in their careers, Springer and Ultra Magnus managed to evade Megatron's forces by triggering a domino-effect within an asteroid field near the planet [[Beta 4|Beta Four]]. They caused the space rocks to collide into one another until the debris made it impossible for the Decepticons to track them.'' {{storylink|Judgment Day!}}

''In [[2005]], Springer was stationed at [[Autobot City (G1)|Autobot City]] when it came under a major offensive from Megatron and his Decepticons. He and Arcee transformed the outpost into its defensive configuration, but the enemy nevertheless managed to breach its walls. The Decepticons were eventually driven off, but at a steep price; in the battle's aftermath, Optimus lay mortally wounded. Afterwards, Springer witnessed Optimus pass on the Matrix of Leadership over to Ultra Magnus before expiring on his deathbed.'' {{storylink|The Planet-Eater!}}

''The Autobots were only given a brief respite before more bad news reached them: a "monster planet," [[Unicron/Generation 1|Unicron]], was encroaching on Cybertron, and devouring its moons! The Autobots quickly prepared to head to Cybertron aboard two shuttles, only to be attacked by Decepticon forces led by [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]], the upgraded form of Megatron. In a last-ditch effort to lose the Decepticons, Ultra Magnus ordered an emergency separation of his group's shuttle. After Galvatron destroyed the jettisoned portion of the vessel (and declared the Matrix destroyed), Springer and his crewmates landed their craft on the [[Junkion (planet)|Planet of Junk]] for repairs.'' {{storylink|Judgment Day!}}

'' Though the young boy [[Daniel Witwicky (G1)|Daniel]] insisted he wanted to help out, Springer dismissed him, advising the human to stay inside and "play with crayons or something." He showed a more supportive side, however, after Arcee provided Daniel with an [[exosuit]], allowing him to match the Autobots' resilience. But the Autobots barely got any work done before the Decepticons tracked them down once more. Ultra Magnus was drawn in quarters, and Galvatron took off with the Matrix in hand. Worse yet, the hostile [[Junkion (species)|Junkions]] next moved in for an attack. Thankfully, Another group, comprising Kup, Hot Rod, and others, then arrived and made peace-talk with the Junkions. All those on Junk then readied for a confrontation against Unicron. This engagement saw the Autobots' ship crash through the titan's eye, and Springer's group found Bumblebee, Jazz, and Spike inside Unicron. Also within Unicron, Hot Rod retrieved the Matrix, which both upgraded him into Rodimus Prime and began a chain reaction, culminating in Unicron's destruction! With the threat now dealt with, the Autobots gathered around Rodimus Prime, who announced that this day would mark a new chapter in Cybertronian history, one that would hopefully contain much peace and happiness.'' {{storylink|The Final Battle!}}

[[File:Peace Rodimus Springer.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|left|Springimus Prime?]]
In [[2008]], Springer was briefly seen among a massive melee between the Autobots and Decepticons on Cybertron. {{storylink|The Legacy of Unicron!}} Later that year, he was stationed in Autobot City on Earth as it came under siege from Quintesson invaders. All Autobots within the outpost were off-lined and strung up to its outer walls by the aggressors. They were eventually rescued after Hot Rod managed to activate [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]] and drove the Quintessons off. {{storylink|Space Pirates!}}

In one future, set in the year [[2510]], the war with the Decepticons finally came to a conclusion. Springer led his Wreckers into battle in Cybertron's northern hemisphere, wiping out the last of the remaining Decepticon warriors. When [[Hot Rod/Marvel Comics continuity|Rodimus Prime]] officially declared the war over, he decided to nominate Springer to carry on the [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix]] for him. Tragically, however, things wouldn't be that simple. A deep-cover Decepticon named [[Triton]] stirred up trouble at the meeting by declaring Ultra Magnus a better choice for the new Autobot leader. His antics led to a brawl between Springer's Wreckers and the [[Technobot (G1)|Technobots]], who favored Ultra Magnus. Although Triton was killed in the fight, it was too late: the war began again, this time with Autobot vs. Autobot. {{storylink|Peace}}

====Another Time & Place====
[[File:Another Time Place Fangry.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb]]
Grimlock and the [[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobots]] rushed off half-cocked searching for a cure for [[Nucleon (substance)|Nucleon]] on [[Hydrus Four]], and it was up to the Autobots to bail them out of trouble when they were caught by the Decepticons. Working with a small group (including [[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]], [[Nightbeat (G1)|Nightbeat]], [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] and [[Blaster (G1)|Blaster]]), Springer caught the Decepticon [[Fangry]] alone and pulled him into the sea. Before he could fight back, Springer used a thermal knife to amputate both of his arms, leaving the [[Headmaster (technology)|Headmaster]] helpless against his Autobot attackers. Cold, Springer. Awesome, but cold.

The Autobots then sprung a surprise attack on the remaining Decepticons, ending in a total victory for Springer and his teammates. With [[Bludgeon (G1)|Bludgeon]]'s defeat, and [[Megatron (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Megatron]]'s revival aborted, the war finally came to an end. {{storylink|Another Time & Place}}

====Marvel ''Generation 2'' comic====
[[File:Springerg2.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|left|Hey, Marvel US, it's me!]]
When the [[Cybertronian (faction)|Cybertronians]] ambushed the [[Autobot]]s on the planet [[Ethos]], Springer was in charge of a squad consisting of former [[Wrecker]]s buddies [[Inferno (G1)|Inferno]] and [[Broadside (G1)|Broadside]], Inferno's buddy [[Smokescreen (G1)|Smokescreen]], and [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]]. Although Springer warned his squad to stay close together, Smokescreen broke formation, resulting in his death and the injuring of Ironhide. Smokescreen's death caused Inferno to lose his temper, and he subsequently also died despite Springer's warnings. {{storylink|Escalation!}}

Springer later helped lay [[Sky Sniper]] mines on Earth, in preparation for a final stand against the coming of the [[Swarm (G2)|Swarm]]. {{storylink|A Rage in Heaven!}}
{{-}}

====''Classics''====
{{noteclassics}}
[[File:Classics Ultramagnus Springer Grimlock comic.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|Springer's the one who doesn't know how binoculars work. Well, one of them, anyway.]]
Springer mainly worked alone against the Decepticons until after [[Bludgeon (G1)|Bludgeon]]'s defeat on [[Klo]]. Fearing the end of the conflict that was so important to him, he was eager to sign on with Grimlock's crew. {{storylink|Games of Deception|''Classics'' Springer profile}}

Fifteen years after the Autobot/Decepticon war ended on Klo, Springer was head of security under Substitute Commander Ultra Magnus aboard the ''[[Graviton (Classics)|Graviton]]'' as it tracked [[Bug Bite (GoBots)|Bug Bite]] to Earth. Springer was looking forward to seeing Grimlock again. Once on Earth, Springer and Ultra Magnus were spying on a meeting between the Decepticons that had followed Bludgeon and those that had thrown their lot in with Starscream. After observing Mirage get captured and Bug Bite using modified [[cerebro-shell]]s to control some of the assembled Decepticons, they withdrew. Later using modified cerebro-shell jammers, Springer was part of the Autobot force that disrupted Bug Bite's meeting with [[Megatron (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Megatron]]. The disrupted meeting led to Decepticon firing on Decepticon and in the chaos that followed, Springer disabled the Decepticon computers, allowing the raiding party to withdraw with a rescued Mirage. {{storylink|Games of Deception}}

[[File:AtFightsEnd-OverkillDragstripAcidStorm.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.4|And then there was a fight. We guess.]]
Later, [[Acid Storm]], [[Drag Strip (G1)|Drag Strip]], and [[Overkill (G1)|Overkill]] were waiting on a dusty planet when Springer's rogue team of Autobots attempted to hunt them down. {{storylink|At Fight's End}}
{{-}}

====''Regeneration One''====
{{noterg1}}
[[File:Wreckers loose ends.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|Alright you lazy bums, it's time to make 'em sorry for leaving us outta the first eighty issues!]]
Springer interrupted [[Kup (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Kup]]'s [[solid light simulation|holographic training session]] (just before Kup would have been defeated by [[Megatron (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Megatron]]) to tell him that the [[Skyscorcher]]s were holed up in the [[Pax Cybertronia Decommissioning Depot]], where they feared they would detonate [[Warbird|cobalt-60 warheads]]. Though disapproved by [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Optimus Prime]], Springer and the [[Wrecker]]s invaded the facility and captured the Deluxe [[Insecticon (G1)|Insecticon]]s, saving countless lives. The Wreckers joined Kup in his quest to help the other planets affected by the [[Great War (G1)|Great War]], and travelled to [[Earth]], hitching a ride aboard the [[Cosmic Carnival]]. Unfortunately they learned the entire planet had been devastated, and were summarily blown out of the sky by nuclear missiles, launched by Megatron. {{storylink|Loose Ends, Part 1}}

[[File:Springer ratbat loose ends.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.2]]
Using escape pods, they crash-landed on Earth. To send a message of their findings to Cybertron, Springer and the Wreckers targeted the [[Deep Space Network]]. While [[Sandstorm (G1)|Sandstorm]], [[Leadfoot (G2)|Leadfoot]] and [[Roadbuster (G1)|Roadbuster]] drew off most of the pursuing zombie-cons, Kup, [[Whirl (G1)|Whirl]] and Springer made for the dish. When more pursuers appeared, Kup peeled off to deal with them, urging Springer and Whirl to get the message through. {{storylink|Loose Ends, Part 2}} After [[Rack'n'Ruin]] discovered and was attacked by [[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Circuit Smasher]], Springer and the other Wreckers quickly surrounded the super-human until a truce was reached. Circuit Smasher, a.k.a. Spike Witwicky took the Wreckers to [[Argus Base]] where they met with [[G.B. Blackrock]]. As they all discussed the fate of Earth and of Spike, they received a broadcast from Megatron holding Kup hostage—an obvious trap, but one that gave Springer an idea. {{storylink|Loose Ends, Part 3}}

Springer took fellow helicopters Sandstorm and Whirl to engage Megatron's forces—knowing it was likely a suicide mission—to give the other Wreckers and Spike's team a chance to storm the [[Ark (G1)|Ark]]. After Springer was brought down by [[Starscream (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Starscream]], Megatron told him that though killing had lost its appeal, he occasionally would do so to set an example to those who would oppose him. Before Megatron could follow through, Optimus Prime and his team arrived. {{storylink|Loose Ends, Part 4}}

Prime commanded Megatron to let Springer go, but the Decepticon leader coldly executed him, sending Prime into a furious attack. {{storylink|Loose Ends, Part 5}} Kup was very upset over Springer's death, and blamed his death on Optimus's inaction. {{storylink|Natural Selection, Part One}}

Another version of Springer was killed in a parallel future, and his corpse was briefly seen by Hot Rod as he passed through on a journey from Primus. {{storylink|Less Than Zero}}

===Marvel coloring books===
Millions of years ago, before the Ark first left for the Earth, Springer loaded a particularly large shipment of Energon onto the Ark. It would later become lost when the Ark crashed into Mt. St. Hillary. {{storylink|The Lost Treasure of Cybertron}}

{{charstubfiction|{{storylink|The Invasion of the Decepticon Camp}}}}

Springer was returning from a road trip with Daniel, Hound and Hot Rod, Bumblebee, Blurr, Wheelie, Kup and Sunstreaker when the group paused to eat at a rest stop. As the Autobots ingested Energon Cubes, Hot Rod asked Kup to tell a story. Kup told the others the story of the loss of the large shipment of Energon, and how it remained lost to the day. Enthralled by Kup's story, the rest of the group were all eager to go looking for this lost treasure. Then Sunstreaker and Springer noticed Laserbeak taking off from their location. The two Autobots realized that Laserbeak had been spying on them the whole time, and would soon inform Galvatron about the lost Energon shipment. Springer and Susntreaker attempted to shoot down Laserbeak to no avail. Springer and the others rushed back to Metroplex to inform Ultra Magnus on the situation. After a brief conference, Ultra Magnus led his troops to the Ark's crash site. Finding the Decepticons there already, the two factions began to fight. The stash of Energon was uncovered when Rumble used his earthquake-inducing abilities. Springer snatched the box up immediately, and attempted to keep it away from the Decepticons by tossing it to Brawn, who in turn tossed it to Grimlock. The box of energon was torn open and was completely gobbled up by Starscream, who proclaimed himself the most powerful Decepticon. With nothing left to fight over, Springer and the Autobots left Galvatron and Starscream to their squabble. {{storylink|The Lost Treasure of Cybertron}}

{{charstubfiction|{{storylink|Hot Rod's Escape}}}}

===Sticker Adventures===
[[File:Springer botjp.jpg|left|upright=0.85|thumb|In the Special Edition, Wreck-Gar shoots first.]]
Springer was one of four Autobots working on mapping the universe when their shuttle is hit by a meteor. Forced into an emergency landing on the [[Junkion (planet)|Junk Planet]], they were attacked by [[Junkion (species)|Junkions]] until Hot Rod & Kup arrived to save their skidplates. {{storylink|Battle on the Junk Planet}}
{{charstubfiction|{{storylink|Galvatron Attacks}}}}

===Toy pack-in material===
Springer teamed up with [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]] and [[Blurr (G1)|Blurr]] during a tumultuous battle on a moonbase, in an attempt to slay [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]]. Springer managed to sock Galvatron good, sending the tyrant hurling away. {{storylink|Decipher the Decepticon}}

When the Decepticons stole the Creation Matrix, Springer was called upon by Ultra Magnus to help retrieve it. Thanks to an army of [[decoy]]s, the Autobots were successful in retrieving their sacred relic. {{storylink|Start Your Own Decoy Collection}}

===Find Your Fate Junior===
{{notemultipath}}
====Autobot Alert!====
Alongside Beachcomber and Blurr, Springer was assigned a secret mission; to uncover the location of a sphere of cybertite, containing an ancient Autobot formula. Partway through the mission, Decepticon storm troopers blasted their way into the Autobots’ research centre, stole a secret message Springer had coded for Kup’s eyes only, and short-circuited him.

In one possible scenario, a squad of Autobots reached the Autobots’ desert research centre, and Sringer was fixed up by Ratchet. Fully operational once more, he explained that the cybertite sphere crashed down in a nearby crater centuries ago, but was found by humans during the 16th century who subsequently moved it. If the Decepticons had decoded Springer's message, they would be searching off the coast of California, where the ship containing the sphere had sunk. If they hadn’t decoded the message, the Decepticons would still be digging in the nearby crater. Springer was for heading towards the crater first.

If Ultra Magnus decided to head for the California coast right away, he split up his forces to more efficiently handle the situation. Springer was part of the main Autobot forces that were led towards the coast by Ultra Magnus. Arriving at the scene, Ultra Magnus’s troops were informed by Powerglide (who had flown ahead of the land-bound group) that he had discovered the location of the sunken ship containing the cybertite sphere. Simultaneously, Blurr caught up with the group to inform them that the Decepticons were quickly approaching. The Autobots then needed to decide whether they would raise the ship themselves, or try and ambush the Decepticons after they had done so.

If Ultra Magnus decided to have his Autobots hide while the Decepticons raised the ship, Springer found himself in a cave with Seaspray and Topspin. The three Autobots spied Devastator retrieving the sunken ship from the water, and decided that the three of them would snatch the sphere away from the Decepticons.

If Springer Seaspray and Topspin executed their plan before any of the other Autobots, Springer instructed the two seaworthy Autobots to head out a few miles, and then return to create a distraction while he retrieved the sphere. The plan went off without a hitch, and Springer used his powerful leg mechanisms to leap his way back to Metroplex. {{storylink|Autobot Alert!}}
{{-}}

====The Invisibility Factor====
In one possible scenario, the Autobots were informed by Kup and Hot Rod that the Decepticons had taken possession of an [[Invisibility Device]], created by the human [[Sarah Sanders]], and taken it into space to study it. Ultra Magnus put together a team of Autobots and took off in one of their shuttles to pursue them. Springer was the shuttle’s pilot. Once in space, however, the Autobots had difficulty pinpointing the Decepticons’ location. The ship’s crew had to decided where to look next for the Decepticons. Springer grimly considered that the Decepticons might be anywhere, as they had already figured out the workings of the Invisibility Device.

If the Autobots decided to investigate the dark side of the moon, they found themselves unable to see anything on the satellite’s shadowy surface. Springer waited silently as Ultra Magnus, Jazz and Hot Rod discussed possible plans of action.

If Ultra Magnus decided to go through with Hot Rod’s plan of shooting down to trick the Decepticons into revealing themselves, the Autobots succeeded only in making themselves an easy target for their enemies. The Decepticons blasted their shuttle to bits. Springer and his friends were reduced to space junk.

If Ultra Magnus listened to Jazz’s plan, he ordered his Autobots to remain silent, and to shut off all of the shuttle’s lights and mechanisms. Launching a probe as a decoy, the Autobots successfully tricked the Decepticons into revealing their position when they mistook the probe as their shuttle and opened fire upon it. Firing back, the Autobots began crippling the Decepticons’ ship, until a lucky shot rocked their own shuttle. Though the Decepticons attempted to escape while the Autobots were off-balance, Springer took careful aim and delivered the finishing blow, ending the Decepticons’ menace as the evil robots' ship exploded.

In an alternate scenario wherein the Autobots listened to Prowl’s suggested and searched the Asteroid Belt beyond Mars, they soon found themselves struggling to get through the maze of floating rocks. Though they began receiving damage as they travelled deeper into the asteroid field, Springer wanted to continue exploring it, stating that if the Decepticons could do it, so could he. Hot Rod pointed out that they did not even know for sure if the Decepticons had headed into the belt in the first place.

If the Autobots pushed on their search in the Asteroid Belt, they soon found themselves on a collision course with two enormous asteroids. If despite his best efforts, Springer only managed to blast one of asteroids, the Autobots were forced to retreat back to Earth after their shuttle took substantial damage. If Springer managed to blast neither of the Asteroids, they were all crushed between the giant pieces of space debris.

If they managed to blast away both asteroids, they reached a vast, empty expanse of space within the asteroid belt. Springer and the others were not given much time to regain their bearings, as the Decepticons, now invisible, began firing upon their shuttle. The Autobots considered retreating, but Kup reminded them that Sarah Sanders had not perfected her device yet, and the Decepticons’ invisibility may yet wear off.

If the Autobots attempted to flee from the Decepticons’ attack, they found themselves at too much of a disadvantage to successfully make it out of the Asteroid Belt. They were blown into space junk before they could reach Earth.

If the Autobots held their ground, they were instructed by Ultra Magnus not to open fire upon the Decepticons until ordered to do so. Though things were tense as the Autobots were hit over and over again by their invisible opponents, soon the enemy ship came into view, just as Kup had predicted. The Autobots opened fire on the flimsier vessel, blowing it and the Decepticons within to smithereens.

If the Autobots did retreat out of the Asteroid Belt, they convinced one another that the Decepticons most likely perished within it. Then, a few days later, when the invisible Decepticons attacked Metroplex city, Springer and the rest of the Autobots were reduced to scrap metal, unable to fight the unseen enemy.

In a completely different possible scenario, Springer was sent out with Jazz, Prowl and Sunstreaker to accompany Kup and Hot Rod when the latter two reported having seen the mysterious ship land in the middle of the desert.

If the Autobots gave up searching for the ship, Ultra Magnus and the rest of the Autobots within Metroplex were caught by surprise by a fleet of identical ships swooping down upon them. The Autobots were all destroyed as Galvatron gloated of his victory.

If Hot Rod and Kup convinced the other Autobots to keep on looking, Hot Rod eventually found trail marks, indicating that a heavy object the size of their spacecraft had indeed landed and had been dragged away. Springer and the others followed the trail to a more rocky terrain, where tracking the ship would become more difficult. The trail seemingly lost, the Autobots then heard someone incoming, and took cover. From their hiding places, they saw the Decepticons Scavenger, a human captive within the grasp of his steam-shovel.

If the Autobots decided to rescue Sarah immediately, Scavenger dropped the woman, and cried for help while attempting to flee.

If the Autobots pursued Scavenger, they found him rejoining a whole squadron of Decepticons.

If the Autobots pursued Scavenger, they found him rejoining a whole squadron of Decepticons. Fighting the Decepticons immediately would cost them their lives. Otherwise, if the Autobots decided on a retreat when faced by the whole squadron of Decepticons, they managed to do so by blinding their enemies by their high beams and then splitting off into different direction. They later regrouped and found Sarah Sanders wandering in the desert.

If the Autobots asked Sarah to build them their own Invisibility Device, Sarah refused, stating she would not build weapons for war. Running away from the group Sarah was almost killed when Dirge passed overhead and dropped a missile on her position. After rescuing her from the Decepticon attack, Springer and the others brought Sarah to safety within Metroplex. Grateful for the rescue, Sarah showed the Autobots how to create an [[Invisibility Scrambler]] to counteract the Decepticons’ Invisibility Device. Anticipating the Decepticons’ attack, the Autobots successfully defeated the evil robots when they came.

If instead of asking Sarah to build them an Invisibility Device, Springer and the others attempted once more to retrieve her ship, the whole group snuck over to where the Decepticons were stationed. Once there, Hot Rod and Prowl argued over which plan of action would be the smartest to undertake next.

If the Autobots agreed with Hot Rod to try and take the Decepticons by surprise with a head-on attack, the Autobots manage to stun the Decepticons by dazzling them with their headlights. springer provided Hot Rod some cover fire while the young Autobot raced down and snatched the Invisibility Device from the Decepticons. The Autobots then successfully peeled back, congratulating one another on a job well done.

If the Autobots agreed with Prowl to take a moment to come up with a more detailed plan, Prowl instructed Hot Rod to taunt the Decepticons into following him. The plan worked, and the bulk of the Decepticons took off after the young Autobot. With only Scavenger, Shockwave and Galvatron left behind, Springer and the others easily defeated the Decepticons still guarding the spaceship, and forced Galvatron to retreat. In one possible scenario that followed, Springer helped destroy a hidden Decepticon base that Hot Rod found while the Decepticons gave him chase. In another, Springer watched on as Sarah left in her spaceship in order to destroy it, vowing it would never be used to bring destruction.

In an alternate scenario where the Autobots silently trailed Scavenger while the Decepticon held Sarah Sanders captive, Springer and the others followed him all the way to the Decepticons’ secret desert base. Inside, they spied upon Galvatron telling Sarah Sanders that the Decepticons would use Cerebro-Shells to control her mind, so that she would reveal to them to secret of invisibility. At this point, the Autobots decided to step in. A direct attack would only end in the Autobots’ defeat.

In order to rescue Sarah, the Autobots would need to employ trickery. Using Jazz’s special abilities, the Autobots could do just that. In this scenario, the Autobots grabbed Sarah while the Decepticons were too dazzled by the illusions that Jazz projected. Sarah directed the Autobots towards where the Decepticons had stored her ship. Upon following her directions, Springer and the others came upon two doors, unable to tell behind which one they would find their means of escape.

If the Autobots happened upon Sarah’s ship as they were, they would be destroyed by the droids guarding it. However, if the Autobots first opened the door which lead to a closet filled with Decepticon spare parts, they found a pile of spare Decepticon emblems. Donning them, Springer and the rest of his team were able to fool the Decepticon Droids guarding Sarah’s ship. Escaping in the ship, despite the Decepticons best efforts to stop them, the Autobots returned to Metroplex. Sarah then gave the Autobots the secret to her Invisibility Device, ensuring the Autobots their victory in their war against the Decepticons. {{storylink|The Invisibility Factor}}
{{-}}

===St. Michael ''The Transformers'' Sticker Book===
{{notemultipath}}
Springer served on an alien spacecraft with the Autobots [[Hot Rod]], [[Sandstorm (G1)|Sandstorm]], and [[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]] under the command of Ultra Magnus. While fighting Decepticons, their spaceship took heavy damage and crash-landed on the planet [[Barrenikon]]. There, he met [[you]], having just emerged from the Vortex, a portal through space and time contained within the planet. Together, you went on an adventure, fighting Decepticons, braving Barrenikon's barren desert or its putrid swamp, and trying to find a way to get the Autobots space-bound once more. {{storylink|The Transformers Sticker Book (St. Michael)|The Transformers Sticker Book}}
{{-}}

===3H comics===
Not long after the signing of the [[Pax Cybertronia]], the Wrecker Springer attempted (fruitlessly) to cheer up [[Arcee (G1)|Arcee]], who had become severely depressed following the death of her surrogate son and Headmaster companion [[Daniel Witwicky (G1)|Daniel Witwicky]]. Afterward, he and Hot Rod, now called simply "Rodimus", both checked out and later underwent the [[Great Upgrade|Maximal Upgrade]]. {{storylink|Departure}}

===Dreamwave ''Generation One'' continuity===
[[File:TWW Escalation Springer.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Spring-heeled jerk.]]
Shortly after [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]] rose to become leader of the Autobots, the [[Forum of Enlightenment]] was destroyed by [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]] in a spectacular explosion. Springer investigated its ruins afterwards from the air. {{storylink|The War Within issue 2|The War Within #2}}

After Optimus disappeared along with Megatron into prototype [[space bridge]], Springer broke off from the Autobot army and formed the Wreckers. Springer was leading the Wreckers into an investigation of the [[Tagan Heights]] Industrial Quadrant East, but they were discovered by [[Ratbat (G1)|Ratbat]], who unleashed [[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]] upon them. Springer, alongside his fellow Wreckers, attacked the Ultracon Combiner but he ended up tangled in cabling. This gave Ratbat the chance to gloat at Springer. Once news of Devastator aligning with the [[Ultracon]]s reached [[Hot Spot (G1)|Hot Spot]] and the [[Protectobot (G1)|Protectobots]], they moved in to aid the Wreckers, combining into [[Defensor (G1)|Defensor]] and battling Devastator. {{storylink|Escalation}}

Freed in the confusion, Springer leaped at Ratbat, screaming at the Ultracon leader for violating the [[Crisis Intervention Accord]]. Ratbat mocked Springer's newfound concern for treaties, pointing out how the Wreckers themselves only abided by them whenever it suited their needs. Changing tactics, Springer approached Defensor, trying to talk him down after Devastator seemed defeated. Unfortunately, Devastator wasn't quite down for the count, and when he began swatting at Springer, the Autobot suddenly found that Defensor was nowhere to be seen. But the individual Protectobots hadn't abandoned Springer after disengaging from their combined modes; they simply had decided to fight smarter. Plugging Devastator into the Tagan Heights' power grid, they managed to overload and defeat the brute. Though Springer was electrocuted as well, First Aid tended to his injuries, and assured him he would make a full recovery. {{storylink|Devastation}}

{{note|Due to [[Dreamwave Productions|Dreamwave]]'s closure, the end of its''War Within'' series was never published. Years later, [[Simon Furman]] released the unpublished scripts to the final three issues. The following would have taken place in said issues:
After Megatron took over Cybertron, Springer was enslaved and put to work in a labor camp. While working, fellow prisoner Ultra Magnus revealed to Springer that he planned to destroy Cybetron's core if no other means presented itself to keep it out of Megatron's hands. {{storylink|The Age of Wrath Pt.4}} It didn't come to this as Grimlock, recently returned from the dead, was able to distract Megatron long enough for Blaster to free Springer and the other enslaved Autobots. {{storylink|The Age of Wrath Pt.5}}}}

[[File:DW Countdown to Extinction Springer.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1]]
Millions of years later, after the [[Great Shutdown]], [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]] had managed to "unite" Cybertron uner his totalitarian rule. Springer became part of an underground resistance, waging a guerilla war against Shockwave's government. Together with Hot Rod and Blurr, Springer spotted a Decepticon shuttle emerging from [[transwarp]] over the [[Wastelands]] of Cybertron. Unknown to the trio, the shuttle actually contained allies in the fight against Shockwave; the Dinobots! {{storylink|Cold War (issue)|Cold War}} These new arrivals sowed so much destruction in their wake that Shockwave was forced to activate the [[Guardian robot]]s to stop them. Upon learning this, Springer reported back to his resistance cell, recently joined by Optimus Prime, that the situation in [[Iacon (polity)|Iacon]] had become worse, with martial law having been imposed. {{storylink|Passive Aggression}} The rebels were thus forced to make their final stand against Shockwave immediately. Springer joined Ironhide and Hot Rod on the front lines during the advance, providing Optimus with the cover he needed to breach Shockwave's inner sanctum. Whilst fighting the Guardian robots outside of Shockwave's fortress, Springer saw the Matrix fire a beam of light towards an [[Unicron|unknown entity]]. {{storylink|countdown to Extinction (issue)|Countdown to Extinction}}

Afterwards, Springer was part of the Autobot council that reestablished a connection to their forces on Earth. {{storylink|Generation 1 issue 0|Generation 1 #0}}

Later still, whilst Hot Rod and Kup were training, Springer took the opportunity to hang out with Arcee on Landing Platform A as they observed Prowl and his group of Autobots heading back to Earth. {{storylink|Lost and Found (issue)|Lost and Found}} He attended Ultra Magnus's mission assignment meeting later at Autobase, with Arcee still at his side. This, and the fact that Springer was assigned his own team, served to remind Hot Rod just how much standing he had lost since Shockwave's reign had been overthrown. {{storylink|The Route of All Evil}}
{{note|As noted above, Dreamwave filed for bankruptcy and stopped producing ''Transformers'' at this point. A few details of [[Unreleased Dreamwave issues#Generation One|Generation One #11]] are known because [[Don Figueroa]] published the line-art of the comic up to page 9 on his DeviantArt account.}}
After an amusing conversation took place between Kup and [[Sludge (G1)|Sludge]], the two of them, along with Arcee, Snarl, and Slag, joined Springer, Grimlock, and Swoop on their shuttle's bridge. Together, they all saw an approaching Quintesson ship. {{storylink|Unreleased Dreamwave issues#Issue 11|Generation 1 #11}}
{{-}}

===The Beast Within===
Springer sustained heavy damage during a savage battle against the Decepticons. Though he pleaded Grimlock to come to his aid, Megatron got to him first, and unceremoniously crushed Springer’s head underfoot. {{storylink|The Beast Within}}

Then his head became un-crushed somehow, and Springer became un-killed. Springer’s wounded body lay safely inside Jetfire’s passenger compartment as the latter managed to rescue the few remaining Autobot troops. {{storylink|The Beast Within Part 2, Consequences}}
{{-}}

===''G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers''===
[[File:ArtofWar3 Sandstorm Springer.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|Get to the Choppah!]]
Springer accompanied [[Sandstorm (G1)|Sandstorm]] in searching for a missing team of Autobots and [[G.I. Joe (team)|G.I. Joes]]. However, their radars were jammed by [[Serpentor|Serpent O.R.]], so their search was fruitless. {{storylink|The Art of War issue 3|The Art of War #3}}
{{-}}

===IDW Generation 1 continuity===
{{ongoing}}
[[File:SoTW-Ostaros.jpg|thumb|left|200px|"Would you risk your life for your fellow man, even if he was a synth?"]]

During the [[Great War (G1)|Great War]], [[Tarantulas (BW)|Mesothulas]] succeeded in creating '''Ostaros''', an artificial Cybertronian powered by an artificial [[spark]] and maintained by a synthesized copy of the [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix]]'s energy field, making him indistinguishable from the genuine article. At some point, Mesothulas's partner [[Prowl (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Prowl]] had a crisis of conscience as their collaborative efforts grew increasingly depraved. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 5|Sins of the Wreckers #3}} [[Impactor (G1)|Impactor]] was sent to take care of the scientist and his inventions; after hurling Ostaros's creator into the [[Noisemaze]], Impactor came across the robot and refused to kill him. Prowl was also incapable of pulling the trigger himself and so Ostaros was recruited into the Autobots as "Springer", never knowing the truth of his origin. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 5|Sins of the Wreckers #5}}

[[File:Autocracy10-Springer.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66]]

During the rule of [[Zeta Prime]], Springer was a member of [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ultra Magnus]]'s security force. Once they learned that Zeta was draining civilians of their [[energon]], they turned on him and helped [[Optimus Prime (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Orion Pax]] and the [[Decepticon]]s overthrow him. {{storylink|Overthrown}} The Decepticons then betrayed the Autobots and imprisoned them, but Springer managed to get his hands on a gun, break out together with his cellmates, and join some other escapees in the search for Orion Pax. Once they found him, they were shocked to learn that he had acquired the [[Matrix of Leadership]] and become Optimus Prime. {{storylink|Rise}} Alongside many other Autobots, Springer rallied behind the new Prime and helped chase the Decepticons out of [[Iacon (polity)|Iacon]]. {{storylink|Endgame}}

Springer acted as a security guard at [[Starsreach Spaceport]] during the [[Exodus (G1)|mass exodus]] of neutrals in the early days of the war. {{storylink|Massacre}} He later aided in defending [[Iacon (polity)|Iacon]] against a Decepticon attack, ruthlessly killing invaders alongside Sandstorm. {{storylink|Primacy issue 4|Primacy #4}} Some time later, he participated in a battle that the Autobots couldn't win. [[Ironhide (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ironhide]] suggested they counter-attack from the west, but the young Autobot leader realized that it was a trap,and advocated falling back to [[Polyhex]]. Optimus was proven right when Springer, acting as aerial support, spotted [[Trypticon (G1)|Trypticon]] arriving to the west. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 13|Old Ways}}

Early in the war, Springer had a simple view of the war: the Autobots were the good guys, the Decepticons were the bad guys, and the [[Autobot Code]] was a way of life. Years of fighting changed him, however, as he stopped seeing everything in black and white and realized being a decent 'bot was only holding him back. After witnessing [[Wrecker]] leader [[Impactor (G1)|Impactor]] single-handedly bring down a Decepticon shuttle, he was inspired to sign up as a Wrecker reservist. Later, as he was working with the [[Heliobot]]s in the [[Toxic Sludge Swamps]], Impactor approached him in the midst of battle to recruit him. {{storylink|Zero Point}} {{storylink|Dead Men's Boots}}

A member of the Wreckers' 17th lineup, Springer became Impactor's first officer and began seeing him as an older brother. However, as the war grew more violent and dirty, so did the Wreckers, and they began breaking more and more rules of war. Springer convinced himself that it wasn't his problem if he wasn't the one doing it, but as time went on he became desensitized and began intervening less and less. Unlike the others, Springer's moral compass required him to have an ''excuse'' for killing Decepticons, so before the final showdown with the Wreckers' Decepticons counterparts [[Squadron X]], he had to pump himself up by telling stories of all the crimes they had committed. The other Wreckers thought this only served to make Impactor even more unstable than he already was. {{storylink|Zero Point}}

[[File:LastStandoftheWreckers5 Springer arrives too late.jpg|left|upright=1.4|thumb|You monster! THEY WERE FANWANK!!!]]
The Wreckers' rivalry with Squadron X came to an end on the planet [[Pova]], where they found themselves in a bad way after Springer was trapped under some collapsed rubble. Despite Springer's pleas, Impactor used his own body as a shield against Squadron X's advancing troops, firing through it. This helped turn the tide, and the Wreckers rounded up all of Squadron X for transport offworld. Unfortunately, Impactor snapped when [[Prowl (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Prowl]] told him that Pova was neutral territory, and that he was ordered to set them free or else the Autobots would face diplomatic repercussions. Impactor locked himself in their ship, and as Springer tried to break through the door, personally executed every member of Squadron X while they were restrained. {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 5|Last Stand of the Wreckers #5}}

Horrified by Impactor's actions, Springer reported him to [[Autobot High Command]] as soon as he got the chance. Before the trial took place, Springer was visited by the other Wreckers, each believing they were alone in approaching him. They all pleaded with him that they hadn't seen Impactor's murders coming and were worried that High Command might shut down the Wreckers because of them. Springer promised to testify that they had nothing to do with it and to become their new leader once everything was over. {{storylink|Zero Point}}

Springer testified against Impactor through [[Aequitas]], and the disgraced Wreckers leader was sentenced to be imprisoned on [[Garrus-9]]. A cover story for what happened on Pova was released which involved Springer suggesting Impactor fire through his torso and Squadron X later escaping their restraints, necessitating their execution. {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 4|Last Stand of the Wreckers #4}} As Impactor was dragged to his cell, Springer told his former commander something he didn't want to hear, something he would dwell upon for the length of his incarceration: Squadron X deserved to die for their crimes, but Impactor didn't have the right to kill them. {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 5|Last Stand of the Wreckers #5}}

At some point during the war, Springer fought alongside Ultra Magnus, Perceptor and Wheelie. Unfortunately, like most other bots, he had a tendency to overlook Wheelie, due to the latter's small stature. {{storylink|Spotlight: Wheelie}} He and the Wreckers also fought (and horribly murdered) most of [[Krok (G1)|Krok]]'s squad during one encounter in the war. {{storylink|Animals}}

[[File:Stormbringer2 Springer.jpg|upright=1.95|thumb|The Wreckers don't half go on about that, do they?]]
Years later on the planet [[Varas Centralus]], Springer, now commander of the Wreckers, was coordinating the counter-offensive against a [[Phase Sixer|Phase Six]] [[infiltration protocol|Decepticon siege bunker]] when he got the call from Optimus Prime that [[Thunderwing (G1)|Thunderwing]] might be active again on Cybertron. Pulling the Wreckers out of Varas Centralus, Springer was of the opinion that if Thunderwing was still alive, they should nuke Cybertron and take the monster with it. {{storylink|Stormbringer issue 2|Stormbringer #2}} After [[Nosecone (G1)|Nosecone]] and [[Afterburner (G1)|Afterburner]] were rescued, the Wreckers prepared to breach [[Bludgeon (G1)|Bludgeon]]'s cultist lair at [[Thunderhead Pass]]. Springer tried to dissuade Optimus Prime from joining the battle, but the Autobot leader was not to be deterred. After routing the cultists, a new problem arose: Thunderwing, sent off to wreak havoc on [[Nebulos]], was returning. {{storylink|Stormbringer issue 3|Stormbringer #3}} The Wreckers gave it their all against Thunderwing, but were seriously outmatched, with Springer's rotors being destroyed by the monstrous titan. As Thunderwing bore down on him, unexpected help came from the Decepticon battleship ''[[Thanatos]]'', and the combined efforts managed to stagger the giant, forcing it to draw more [[Ore-13|Ultra-Energon]] from the environment, whose side effects eventually forced it to shut down. {{storylink|Stormbringer issue 4|Stormbringer #4}}

Shortly after coming to Earth, Optimus Prime was getting updates from the various unit commanders and officers out in the universe while aboard the ''[[Ark-19]]'', amongst them Springer. {{storylink|Escalation issue 1|Escalation #1}} {{storylink|Spotlight: Optimus Prime}}

[[File:SpotlightKup Springersholograph.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Ebeneezer Kup!]]
Not long thereafter, Springer excused himself from actively leading the Wreckers when he heard his old mentor Kup had finally been found, after being MIA for some time. Rescue conditions were hardly ideal, however: [[Tsiehshi|the planet]] the old warhorse was stuck on was permeated with [[Ore-8|highly unstable energy crystals]] which produced massive amounts of debilitating radiation and a single spark might set off an explosive chain reaction that would destroy the planet. Kup, meanwhile, had somehow survived exposure to this environment, yet had gone over the brink of madness, attacking the Autobot teams that beamed down to retrieve him because their thick radiation armors made them appear monstrous to his eyes. Despite these complications, Springer insisted rescue efforts continue, even after many Autobots were destroyed in the attempt. Finally, [[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] arrived as a defensive specialist, and used his force field to block the radiation and get Kup to recognize him. Kup was brought in for repairs, and Springer returned to the Wreckers. {{storylink|Spotlight: Kup}}

Later, Springer, along with Autobots across the galaxy, watched an Autobot news report heralding the miraculous return of [[Blaster (G1)|Blaster]]. {{storylink|Spotlight: Blaster}}

When the denizens of the [[Dead Universe]] stepped up their plans to merge the living and unliving universes together, Springer and the Wreckers were called in once again to battle Thunderwing when he was found guarding a cave on planet [[Corata-Vaz]]. {{storylink|Spotlight: Hardhead}} They didn't have much luck. {{storylink|Spotlight: Doubledealer}} However, once [[Jetfire (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Jetfire]] managed to take control of Thunderwing, Springer and the Wreckers snuck past it and into the cave to retrieve one of the [[Nega-Core]]s, which were crucial to the Dead Universe plans. Unfortunately, as they were doing so, [[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]] regained control of Thunderwing, and the Wreckers were forced to hold the line until the Nega-Core could be removed and deposited back into the Dead Universe via a portable [[space bridge]]. {{storylink|Spotlight: Sideswipe}}

[[File:AHM15 SpringerpunchesProwl.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Why should [[Ironhide (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ironhide]] get [[All Hail Megatron issue 4|all the fun?]]]]
Springer was making regular trips to the ''[[Ark-17]]'' to check up on Kup, but one day found that the old warrior had been transferred to the [[Kimia Facility]] without his knowledge. Filled with rage, Springer traveled to the facility and delivered an uppercut to [[Prowl (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Prowl]]'s chin, only to learn that Kup had been fully repaired using [[Pretender]] technology. While he was skeptical at first, Springer's spirits were soon lifted when he got to meet the rejuvenated Kup. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 15|Everything in Its Right Place}}

Led by Kup, Springer later helped rescue a number of Wreckers who had been captured by the Decepticon [[Turmoil]]. Following this mission, Springer and his fellow Wrecker [[Roadbuster (G1)|Roadbuster]] joined Kup's personal strike force on board the starship ''[[Trion]]''. He argued against letting [[Drift (G1)|Drift]] into the team, but Kup felt that everyone deserves a second chance. {{storylink|Spotlight: Drift}} Shortly afterwards, the team caught a distress call from [[Hot Rod/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Hot Rod]], who was being chased by Decepticons. Kup's team went to his aid, but unfortunately their opponent was the abominable [[Monstructor (G1)|Monstructor]], who melted Springer's rotor blades with acid. Eventually, the giant was toppled by [[Perceptor (G1)|Perceptor]]'s new sniping skills. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 15|Lost & Found}}

While chasing the Decepticon cruiser ''[[Torment]]'', the ''Trion'' was lured into a trap and shot down above the planet Cybertron. The crew was "bonded" with the ship at the time, and Springer refused to disconnect from the doomed vessel as he attempted to steer it into a crash landing. He succeeded, and later met with another Autobot unit that had also ended up on the abandoned planet. Kup's team decided to show the others how badass they were, a showcase which ended with Springer being wrestled to the floor by [[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]] and his weapon being used to hold Kup at gunpoint. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 5|All Hail Megatron #5}} After this little show of force, the two groups teamed up to fight off the [[Insecticon swarm]] that was inhabiting the planet along with them. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 6|All Hail Megatron #6}}

[[File:LastStandoftheWreckers1 Springer introduction.jpg|left|upright=1.4|thumb|''Lookin' back on the track, for a little green bag...'']]
When the Autobots relocated to another base, Springer participated in the caravan in his ground vehicle mode. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 7|All Hail Megatron #7}} At the new base, Springer helped set up a large defensive cannon to use against the incoming swarm. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 9|All Hail Megatron #9}} Despite Springer's best use of fisticuffs, the Autobots were overrun by the thousands of Insecticons, and only saved by the intervention of [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]]. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 10|All Hail Megatron #10}} Omega took everyone to [[New York City]] on [[Earth]], where Megatron and his forces were located. During the great battle, Springer shoved his knee hard in [[Viewfinder]]'s abdomen. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 11|All Hail Megatron #11}}

Springer had medics at key facilities look out for messages from [[Dominus Ambus|Agent 113]], a spy in the [[Decepticon Justice Division]] with a unique way of sending reports. One of these medics was [[First Aid (G1)|First Aid]], who contacted him when Agent 113 reported the Decepticon occupation of Garrus-9. {{storylink|Bullets}} After Megatron's defeat on Earth and the general collapse of the Decepticon war effort, Prowl formulated a desperate plan to use the Wreckers to retake Garrus-9 from the Decepticons and retrieve the potentially damaging war criminal trial data from supercomputer Aequitas. Springer began recruiting new members into the Wreckers, noting with irony that he had now assumed Impactor's role, though the main difference was Springer offered the potential recruits a choice, and sometimes they said no. {{storylink|Dead Men's Boots}}

On Ultra Magnus's ship Springer introduced himself to the new team members: [[Rotorstorm (G1)|Rotorstorm]], [[Ironfist (G1)|Ironfist]], [[Pyro (G1)|Pyro]], and [[Guzzle (G1)|Guzzle]]. He told them that their first mission was to clean up [[Garrus-9]] and warned them that their first day as a Wrecker could be their last. When Ironfist fainted, Springer felt he needed to keep an eye on him. Afterward he spoke with [[Kup (G1)|Kup]] and shared thoughts about Impactor until Ultra Magnus called for him to return to the bridge. He arrived just in time to see a Decepticon starship explode, revealing the former Wrecker. {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 1|Last Stand of the Wreckers #1}}

[[File:LastStandoftheWreckers2 SpringerImpactorReunion.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|Reunited and it feeeels so bad!]]
Once Impactor was aboard, Springer asked him how he got out of Garrus-9. After hearing Impactor's tale of escape and the revelation that infamous [[Overlord (Masterforce)|Overlord]] was now the death camp warden, Springer felt that the mission was finally getting interesting. He then shared words with Impactor about the incident on [[Pova]]. Impactor stormed out, but Springer still felt it would be a good idea to use him on the team. Ultra Magnus then relayed something that Prowl wanted done, but only revealed the name: Aequitas.

While nearing Garrus-9 orbit, Springer assisted Ultra Magnus with the mission briefing. He outlined the mission, dividing them into two teams to penetrate the [[lattice forcefield]] via [[drop pod]]s. He took control of one of the pods before relaying control over to Rotorstorm for a simultaneous hit against the forcefield. Once through the pod came under instant attack, but Springer managed a crash landing. {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 2|Last Stand of the Wreckers #2}}

Upon planetfall, Springer's team ran from an oncoming horde of Decepticons. He took a look at [[Twin Twist]]'s wounds while Guzzle, Kup, and Impactor held off the Decepticons. Springer ordered Guzzle into tank mode to bring down the ceiling, granting them an moment's reprieve. He then sent Kup and Guzzle to get backup while Twin Twist drilled through the floor. He drilled into an open area, but was saved by Springer, who jumped through and quickly transformed into helicopter mode. On the ground they found the demolished remains of [[Kick-Off (G1)|Kick-Off]], but Twin Twist warned them that they had just set off a defense mechanism. Springer attempted to escape but was zapped unconscious, ending up in [[Stalker (G1)|Stalker]]'s Spark Extinction Chamber. {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 3|Last Stand of the Wreckers #3}}

[[File:LastStandoftheWreckers4 faceshot.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1||Right in the kissah!]]
Springer came to after a torturing round from Stalker and began arguing with Impactor about the events that led to the former Wrecker commander to be imprisoned on Garrus-9. Springer expressed the desire to forgive Impactor and himself for what happened on Pova, but this couldn't happen until Impactor admitted that what he did was wrong. They were interrupted by the return of Stalker, who had retrieved his latest instrument of torture, the [[endoscopic claw]]. After Twin Twist died as a result of [[Topspin (G1)|Topspin]]'s sacrifice to activate Aequitas, Stalker was about to move onto the others when help arrived in the form of Guzzle, Kup and [[Snare]]. Kup sprang Springer, who brought a quick end to Stalker with the torturer's own endoscopic claw. This respite didn't last long, as [[Overlord (Masterforce)|Overlord]] blasted through the wall having been radioed by Stalker. The large Decepticon simply asked if the Wreckers were ready, with Springer replying affirmative. {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 4|Last Stand of the Wreckers #4}}

[[File:LastStandoftheWreckers SpringerOverlordFaceoff.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Give me your- [[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Oh, you know.]]]]
The battle with Overlord took the combatants to Garrus-9's roof, but it soon became apparent that Springer's team were fighting a losing battle. After Impactor was seemingly defeated, Ironfist, Perceptor and Verity arrived with a large rotary cannon for Springer to use that would supposedly turn the tide. The Wreckers commander emptied the massive weapon into Overlord, who at merely seemed annoyed at the attack, knocked the weapon away and tore Springer's face off. As he advanced on Ironfist, the diminutive Autobot detonated the payload of [[deterrence chip]]s that the Springer had fired into Overlord, and Verity broke his will by revealing that Megatron had since died, robbing the insane Overlord of his obsessive desire to face the Decepticon leader in combat. After Impactor disabled Overlord, he refused to kill him, stating that it was not what Springer wanted. With G-9's liberation, Ultra Magnus took the survivors back to [[Earth]], where Springer was still alive but on life-support, with Kup by his bedside. {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 5|Last Stand of the Wreckers #5}}

Though his body was repaired, Springer was left in a coma due to a [[zero point]], an affliction that kept his [[spark]] from moving through his body. After the liberation of Garrus-9, the comatose Springer was transferred to ''[[Debris]]'', where he was left under the care of Roadbuster and Whirl. {{storylink|Zero Point}} Convinced their leader would never wake up, Whirl attempted to euthanize him using Roadbuster's [[Sparkeater (weapon)|Sparkeater weapon]], but was caught in the act by Roadbuster and punished. {{storylink|Interiors}} At [[Rung (G1)|Rung]]'s suggestion, Roadbuster began reading the ''[[Wreckers: Declassified]]'' datalogs to Springer in hopes that an emotional response might cause his subconscious to bypass the zero point. When he came to the complete lie of a datalog detailing Pova, Roadbuster gave up and chose to tell Springer the truth: the Wreckers had been ''glad'' to see Impactor kill Squadron X, and they had only asked Springer to lead them because they didn't want to be thrown in prison alongside him. Just as he went on to admit that Springer had still proven to be their greatest leader, Springer began showing signs of life again. {{storylink|Zero Point}}

[[Chromedome (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Chromedome]] would later edit Overlord's memories of his battle with Springer and the Wreckers in order to embed a [[Trepan's Trigger]] in his head. {{storylink|Remembrance Day}} Footage of Springer saying "keep going without me" was used by [[Rewind (G1)|Rewind]] in his stitched-together final message to Chromedome. {{storylink|The Gloaming}}

[[File:SinsoftheWreckers Springer flashbacks.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|left]]
After more than four years in his comatose state, even Impactor began believing it would be better if they let Springer go. Fate, however, seemed to have other ideas, as Kup and [[Arcee (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Arcee]] set off an automatic recording of Prowl's, who recent actions had led to his disappearance, requesting Springer for the task of finding and rescuing him. As a result, Kup called Springer with a message imploring that he wake up. Kup's words seemed to be what was needed to reawaken the comatose Wrecker, who immediately organised the inhabitants of Debris into journeying to Earth and arriving in time to disrupt Arcee's interrogation of Verity. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 1|Sins of the Wreckers #1}} Things started to fall to bits quickly, not helped by Springer still being disoriented from the coma and haunted by dreams of Garrus-9, and the Wreckers being a big mess. While Springer suspected Decepticons, unclear of how much had changed in four years, they soon learned it was [[Tarantulas (BW)|Mesothulas]]. To Springer's horror, they learned it when Kup began ''talking in Prowl's voice'' as the strategist had installed a backdoor in his brain years ago and could remotely hack him; afterwards, Springer had to comfort his friend who was now aware of what he'd done when mad.

[[File:SinsoftheWreckers3-Noisemaze.jpg|thumb|upright=1.6]]
Battle was soon joined with [[Mayhem Attack Squad|Mayhem]], anarchist cross-factional [[Beast Wars|beast-formers]] who'd teamed up with Mesothulas to capture Prowl. Springer was shot out of the sky by [[Carnivac (G1)|Carnivac]], who pitched that the Wrecker should ''join'' them. The Autobot kept fighting anyway and the Wreckers tracked down and boarded the Mayhem's [[Tidal Wave (G1)|living, mobile aquabase]]... where Springer was aghast to see Roadbuster, the very bot who'd read to him for years, torturing a helpless captive. Roadbuster told him that he could be those two things. The brutalised [[Claw Jaw]] led Springer's team to the [[Noisemaze]] where Prowl was... {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 2|Sins of the Wreckers #2}} and they immediately collapsed in pain, unable to handle the sensory overload. Tarantulas ''née'' Mesothulas soon had Springer, Roadbuster, and Arcee strapped in to Aequitas's sister computer [[Impetus]], a guilt ''extractor'' that was forcing them to confess their worst sins: Springer lamented failing Squadron X and sending so many to die rescuing Kup. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 3|Sins of the Wreckers #3}}
{{charstubfiction|{{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 4|Sins of the Wreckers #4}} {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 5|Sins of the Wreckers #5}}}}
{{-}}

===''Transformers vs. G.I. Joe''===
{{charstubfiction|{{storylink|Escape from Primus}} {{storylink|The War Never Ends}}}}

===IDW ''Beast Wars'' comics===
Springer was a participant in the Great War up until its very end in [[2035]]. After both [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]] and [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]] fell in battle, the [[Primal Council]] had Springer marshal their forces in anticipation for the Decepticons' next attack. {{storylink|Dawn of the Predacus}}

==Commercial appearances==
[[File:SpringerWreckGarCommercial1.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4]]
*Springer's shuttle was shot down by the [[Revenge (G1)|Revenge]] over the planet [[Junkion (planet)|Junkion]], where he was forced to do battle with an aggressive [[Wreck-Gar (G1)|Wreck-Gar]] and another [[Junkion (species)|Junkion]]. Prime described Springer as "the toughest of the Autobot [[Triple Changer]]s". {{storylink|Commercial/Generation 1#Springer and Wreck-Gar|Springer and Wreck-Gar commercial}}
*Springer grappled with [[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave]] during a vicious battle between Autobots and Decepticons on Cybertron. While some fought, others left Cybertron behind to expand the Transformers' war to the planet [[Nebulos]]. {{storylink|Commercial/Generation 1#Headmaster comic book|Headmaster comic book commercial}}
*Springer was part of a massive battle between Kreons. He managed to knock over [[Ripclaw (Kre-O)|Ripclaw]] with his sword, taunting that he would "catch him on the flip-side." He continued to make good work of his swordsmanship skills against the Decepticons until [[Predaking (G1)|Predaking]] and [[Bruticus (G1)|Bruticus]] joined the fight, forcing the Autobots to flee. Ripclaw got his revenge later, using his fire-breath to torch Springer's behind. {{storylink|Commercial#Kre-O|KRE-O Transformers Micro Changers and Combiners Construction Sets commercial}}

{{--}}

==Games==
===The Transformers (PS2)===
{{voiceactor|[[Phil Gibbon]] (English)}}
When [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]] threatened the universe using [[Zel Quartz]] in 2010, Springer was one of the Autobots warriors who travelled back in time to 2003 to prevent Zel Quartz from ever being cultivated for use by Cybertronians. Separated from the rest of his team in the crash, he rejoined the present and future Autobots in their campaign after the first false lead for the quartz on [[Zel Samine]]. {{storylink|The Transformers (PS2)|The Transformers}}

===''Transformers Legends''===
As Wreckers, Springer and [[Roadbuster (G1)|Roadbuster]] were sent to prevent [[Bludgeon (G1)|Bludgeon]] and [[Darkwing]] from reviving [[Thunderwing (G1)|Thunderwing]]. They failed, and were forced to help the two Decepticons defeat Thunderwing. {{storylink|Stormbringer (Legends)|Stormbringer}}

When [[Ultra Magnus (G1)|Ultra Magnus]], [[Kup (G1)|Kup]], and [[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike]] were abducted by [[Skuxxoid]]s during the [[Galactic Olympics|Galactic Games]], [[Arcee (G1)|Arcee]] and Springer gave chase. Instead of finding the Skuxxoids, they caught up with [[Hot Rod|Rodimus Prime]], just as their leader was having a vision that the [[Quintesson]]s were behind the kidnapping. {{storylink|Five Faces of Darkness: Part 1}} Arcee, Rodimus, Ultra Magnus and Springer were trapped in human bodies by [[Victor Drath]] and [[Cobra Commander|Old Snake]], but still managed to foil the pair's plan to destroy Autobot City. They were later successfully returned to their robot bodies. {{storylink|Only Human (Legends)|Only Human}}

===''Transformers: Battle Tactics''===
[[File:BattleTacticsSpringer.jpg|thumb|right|400px|I've got better things to do!]]
[[File:Battle-Tactics-Springer-(Gen).jpg|thumb|right|400px|And all the Triple Changer Springers were thrown away. Especially if you've got ten of them.]]
Springer participated in battles against a variety of opponents, both Autobots and Decepticons. Sometimes there were many of him! He appeared in two different bodies:
*''Springer'' — This Super Rare character could be recruited by collecting 275 units of Cybermetal, 85 units of Transmetal, 55 hunter cores, and 5 cores of this character.
*''Springer (Gen)'' — This Epic character was available as a reward to 100 leagues in the "Transform and Roll Out!" event.
{{storylink|Transformers: Battle Tactics}}
{{-}}

===''Transformers: Frontiers''===
{{charstubgame|{{storylink|Transformers: Frontiers}}}}

==Toys==
{{main|Springer (G1)/toys}}

==Notes==
*Like all of the new characters created for ''The Transformers: The Movie'', Springer has an earlier, alternate [[character model]] that served as the basis for his toy, and which was used for his appearances in the Marvel comic. In terms of animation, Springer's early design appears in "[[Only Human]]", used for the duration of the episode.
*Springer's name comes from his ability to jump well. As you'd expect from someone who has a flying altmode, it's not an ability he uses much.
*Ostara (known better as [[w:Ēostre|Ēostre]]) is a Germanic goddess of, among other things, ''spring''.

===Foreign names===
*''Japanese:'' '''Sprang''' or '''Sprung''' (スプラング ''Supurangu''), '''Springer''' (スプリンガー ''Supringā'')
*''Mandarin:'' '''Tán Huáng''' (China 弹簧 "Springs"), '''Bǎi Zhàng Tiào''' (China 百丈跳 "Thousand-feet jump")
*''French:'' '''Ricochet''' (Canada)
*''Hungarian:'' '''Szökkenő''' ("Springer")
*''Italian:'' '''Bora'''
*''Russian:'' '''Sprinter''' (Спринтер)

[[Category:Beast Machines Autobots]]
[[Category:Classics Autobots]]
[[Category:Defense specialists]]
[[Category:Dreamwave Generation 1 Autobots]]
[[Category:Generation 1 Autobots]]
[[Category:Generation 2 Autobots]]
[[Category:IDW Generation 1 Autobots]]
[[Category:Kre-O Autobots]]
[[Category:Kreons]]
[[Category:Legends Autobots]]
[[Category:Regeneration One Autobots]]
[[Category:Security officers]]
[[Category:The Headmasters Autobots]]
[[Category:Triple Changers]]
[[Category:Universe Transformers]]
[[Category:Wings Universe Autobots]]
[[Category:Wreckers]]

Springer (G1)

2017-04-27T00:54:09Z

7Crimsonified7: /* The Transformers cartoon */

{{factions|autobot|wreckers|autobotg2}}
{{disambig3|Springer}}
{{suite}}
:''Springer is an [[Autobot]] from the [[Generation 1 continuity family|Generation 1]] [[continuity family]].''
[[File:Springer-decipherthedecepticon.jpg|upright=2.2|thumb|You're all clear kid, now let's blow this thing and go home!]]
'''Springer''' is the archetypal action hero: great in a fight, unselfconsciously brave, confident, and always ready with a dead-pan sarcastic quip to lighten the moment. Someone you can depend on to ride in, save the day and be smug about it.

Though his easy self-confidence is one of his most notable features, actually being responsible for others weighs heavily upon his otherwise jocular personality. Nonetheless, Springer ascended to lead the [[Wrecker]]s. He has twice been named as [[Hot Rod|Rodimus Prime]]'s successor to take the [[Matrix of Leadership]] and lead the Autobots, though neither one actually came to pass.

Springer combines the thrusting power of his legs with his retro thrusters to move rapidly through the battlefield, leaping tall structures in a single bound. Although he is quite speedy, he is not faster than [[Superman|a speeding bullet]].

Sometimes he is previously known as '''Ostaros'''.

{{quote|I've got better things to do tonight than die.|Springer in the defense of [[Autobot City (G1)|Autobot City]]|''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]''}}

==Fiction==
===Generation 1 cartoon continuity===
====''The Transformers'' cartoon====
{{voiceactor|[[Neil Ross]] (English), [[Kenyū Horiuchi]] (Japanese)|[[Li Danqing]] (Chinese), [[Willi Röbke]] (German, "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 1–4" and "Nightmare Planet"), [[Peter Musäus]] (German), [[Ulrich Bernsdorff]] (German, "Webworld"), [[Bernd Simon]] (German, "Fight or Flee" and "Ghost in the Machine"), [[Frank Muth]] (German, ''The Movie'' TV dub), [[Pierre Hatet]] (French, ''The Movie''), [[Roberto Alexander]] (Spanish)}}

[[File:Springerarceecmonwoman.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|C'mon, woman!]]
Springer was among the first Autobots to leap into the [[Battle of Autobot City]] in 2005. He helped [[Arcee (G1)|Arcee]] transform the city into its heavily-armed, armored fortress configuration, and later used an oversized piece of artillery to bombard [[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]].

[[File:Springer launcher devastator.jpg|right|upright=1.4|thumb|"Springer go make boom-boom now."]]
When [[Unicron]] made his existence known to the Autobots by destroying two of [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]'s moons, Springer was among those who left Earth aboard a shuttle to stop the Chaos-Bringer somehow. The ship Springer was aboard crashlanded on the planet [[Junkion (planet)|Junk]], where a battle erupted between the Autobots and the native [[Junkion (species)|Junkions]], during which Springer dueled with the Junkion chieftain, [[Wreck-Gar (G1)|Wreck-Gar]].

After arriving at Cybertron, Springer and the other Autobots wound up inside Unicron himself, where they desperately fought off Unicron's internal defenses. Luckily, just as one of the defensive claws was about to crush him, [[Hot Rod/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Hot Rod]] opened the Matrix of Leadership, destroying Unicron and becoming Rodimus Prime. Springer and the rest escaped the monster by driving out through its eye and into space. {{storylink|The Transformers: The Movie}}
{{note|Springer’s involvement in these events, or events mostly similar, were also chronicled in the comic mini-series “[[Transformers: The Animated Movie]],” the storybook “[[Transformers the Movie (Ladybird adaptation)|Transformers the Movie]]" and the "Special Edition The Transformers: The Movie extra page" of "[[Transformers: The Ultimate Pop-Up Universe]]."}}

[[File:Springerfivefacescopter.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|The physics of this makes no sense.]]
A year later, Springer attended the first [[Galactic Olympics]] alongside his fellow Autobots. Unfortunately, the festivities were interrupted by an [[Skuxxoid|alien mercenary]] who turned the Olympic torch into a giant flash/smoke grenade, and then a battalion of [[Sharkticon (G1)|Sharkticons]] attacked. Springer was able to douse the torch from the air, but by then, the attackers had already fled, having captured [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ultra Magnus]], [[Kup (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Kup]] and [[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike Witwicky]]. Springer immediately volunteered to track the escaped alien saboteur, and was joined by Arcee. They followed their quarry to his strange base ship, an asteroid-like spacecraft referred to as a "[[Rockeroid]]". The mercenary fled after misleading his pursuers into believing that the Decepticons were behind the attack, and Springer was fortunately able to pilot his ship (barely). {{storylink|Five Faces of Darkness, Part 1}}

Springer flew the Rockeroid to the distant planet [[Chaar]], where he arrived just in time to save Rodimus Prime and [[Grimlock (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Grimlock]] from being beaten to scrap by a mob of Decepticons. Later, a badly-damaged Rodimus prepared to pass the Matrix on to Springer in anticipation of his imminent demise. Fortunately, the Autobot leader did not die, but rather experienced the Cybertronian equivalent of a near-death experience, wherein his [[Spark|"life force"]] left his body to embark on a very trippy (and poorly animated) journey into the Matrix itself. Immediately afterwards, Springer participated in a daring rescue mission to save Ultra Magnus and the others from the [[Quintesson]]s, only for the group's ship to get caught in the explosion of [[Quintessa]]. {{storylink|Five Faces of Darkness, Part 2}}

Before long, they all wound up on [[Goo 8739B]], where Springer was disassembled by the planet's mobile garbage disposal unit. {{storylink|Five Faces of Darkness, Part 3}} Fortunately, he was rebuilt and restored to life by the Junkions. As Rodimus contemplated the mysteries of the Quintessons, Springer advised the others to leave him alone, give him some room to think, and trust him not to do anything rash. When he found that Rodimus had scrambled his own circuitry to enter the Matrix, Springer expressed his disapproval to his commanding officer in a calm and respectful manner. {{storylink|Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4}}

{{quote|Are you CRAZY?! Why'd you short-circuit yourself?! Get up, you... you moron!|Springer}}

Springer and the others returned to Cybertron in time to defend against a major Decepticon offensive. {{storylink|Five Faces of Darkness, Part 5}}

[[File:DarkAwakening-Springer.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a blaster by your-''WHERE'S MY BLASTER?!'']]
Sometime later, Springer, [[Perceptor (G1)|Perceptor]], Grimlock and [[Skydive (G1 Aerialbot)|Skydive]] were on-hand when [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] miraculously returned from the dead, telling tales of how Rodimus, Arcee and an Autobot shuttle crew gave their lives against the Quintessons so that he could escape, and return to Cybertron. Springer eagerly jumped on the bandwagon to follow Optimus and the entire Autobot fleet to hunt down the Quintessons and avenge Arcee and his friends. ''Especially'' Arcee. He was on board the flagship when Rodimus and the others, alive and well, intercepted the fleet and stopped the Quintesson trap from being sprung. {{storylink|Dark Awakening (episode)|Dark Awakening}}

When a strange unidentified ship entered Cybertronian air space, Rodimus Prime sent [[Blurr (G1)|Blurr]] and Springer out to rescue the occupant before he crash-landed. Inside, they found the long-lost Autobot Triple Changer known as [[Sandstorm (G1)|Sandstorm]], who now lived on a peaceful planet called [[Paradron]] which had just been invaded by the Decepticons. As the Autobots returned to Paradron to overthrow the Decepticon oppressors, Springer teamed up with Rodimus and Sandstorm to free the captive Paradronians. {{storylink|Fight or Flee (episode)|Fight or Flee}}

[[File:NightmarePlanetSteed.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|For Narnia!]]
Springer and Ultra Magnus picked up an electromagnetic disturbance in a remote region of Cybertron, and drove out with Rodimus Prime to investigate. They were ambushed by a [[Predacon (G1)|Predacon]] assassination squad, but ''all'' the Transformers were ambushed again by the Quintessons' latest toy: a device which turned the nightmarish dreams of [[Daniel Witwicky (G1)|Daniel Witwicky]] into physical reality. Springer and the Predacon commander [[Razorclaw (G1)|Razorclaw]] were kidnapped by a massive [[dragon]] and flown off to an isolated castle. Tossed into the dungeon, Springer and Razorclaw met a [[Fairy-tale princess|princess]] being held captive by the dragon. Going with the flow, Springer took up her quest to defeat the dragon and return the princess to her father. Knight Springer and his faithful steed Razorclaw, whom the princess had promised [[gold]] as reward, escaped the dungeon and took up the search for the "magic [[lance]]" necessary to kill the dragon. Riding into battle atop the Predacon's back, Springer plunged the lance into the dragon's chest and then followed the yellow brick road back to his friends. {{storylink|Nightmare Planet}}

While on monitor duty on Cybertron, Springer and Blurr caught sight of [[Astrotrain (G1)|Astrotrain]] on what appeared to be an attack vector. After the [[Protectobot (G1)|Protectobots]] shot him down, the Autobots learned his "assault" was just the latest in a series of recent events involving [[Scourge (G1)|Scourge]] and [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream's ghost]], who had stolen the eyes of [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]] and [[Trypticon (G1)|Trypticon]] for Unicron. Springer joined Ultra Magnus and the Protectobots on a spy mission to Unicron's head in order to investigate further, but they were violently repulsed by the Planet-Eater's internal defenses. Things got even more complicated once Scourge turned on his "partners" and reported to the Autobots that Unicron planned to use Trypticon's transforming cog to connect himself to Cybertron, and convert the entire planet into his new body. Luckily, Springer and the others were able to <s>casually chuck</s> plant energon explosives at the base of Unicron's head as he touched down, blasting him back out into space before he could connect with the planet. {{storylink|Ghost in the Machine (G1)|Ghost in the Machine}}

On a geological survey to uncover [[isidrite]] for their weaponry, Springer and the Autobots were attacked by [[Galvatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Galvatron]]'s forces, seeking the mineral for their own purposes. Luckily, Galvatron beat up most of his own troops for them, giving the Autobots a chance to depart. {{storylink|Webworld}}

[[File:VampireDepth.jpg|left|upright=1.4|thumb|Coooookiiiieeees.]]
When Perceptor finished construction of a new experimental power core for Cybertron, Springer used his helicopter mode to lower the core into place. Naturally, the Decepticons attempted to acquire the power core for themselves, but were led astray by their Quintesson "allies" who instead directed them towards the [[Hibernation Chamber]] of the [[Trans-Organic]]s. Springer and the other Autobots caught up with the 'Cons just in time to find them in pitched battle with the unleashed Trans-Organics, including the massive and monstrous power-sapping [[Dweller]]. The Dweller drained the energy from its victims on contact, then placed them inside incubation tubes on its back. [[Wreck-Gar (G1)|Wreck-Gar]] and three [[Sweep (G1)|Sweeps]] were among its first victims. Springer valiantly scaled the creature and tore open its rear casing to free his friend and renew his series for another season. No good deed goes unpunished, though, for the creature had transformed Wreck-Gar into a [[Energy vampire|vampiric]] extension of itself, an undead robot who drained energy from others to feed it back into the Dweller itself. Springer became a victim of the very robot he tried to save. Luckily, Perceptor was able to concoct a method of correcting their power imbalance, restoring Springer, Wreck-Gar and the other victims to normal. The Dweller was launched into space once it latched onto the power core, thanks to Perceptor's bizarre security measures which allowed him to jettison the entire unit with the pull of a lever. {{storylink|The Dweller in the Depths}}

[[File:SpringerOnlyHuman.jpg|upright=0.9|thumb|Surprise, he's the green one!]]
Somewhere on Earth (it doesn't really matter where) a crime spree was raging, and the Autobots were called in to help. Springer lent his helicopter mode to rescue civilians trapped in burning buildings during a series of bombings. Springer, Arcee, Ultra Magnus and Rodimus Prime were called in by an anonymous tip that would be their "big break in the case". Springer laughed off the police chief when he suggested it might be a dangerous trap, but he stopped laughing when [[Victor Drath]] and "[[Cobra Commander|Old Snake]]" captured the Autobots inside of a minute. Not one to waste resources, Drath eliminated his enemies and developed powerful new weapons at the same time by converting the four Autobots' mental essence into synthetic organic forms. He ordered the organic material destroyed but, surprisingly, it seemed to form itself into four genuinely human bodies for the Autobots. Springer and the "Autobots" escaped Drath's thugs in the scrapyard where they were being disposed of, and sought cover in a nearby shed. In the sort of plot contrivance not revived until ''Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers'' years later, the Autobots found four matching jumpsuits inside, each perfectly replicating their individual color schemes. As a human, Springer faced some tough lessons, like shaving and dealing with sidewalk preachers.

[[File:Only-human-springer-helicoptermode.jpg|upright=1.1|left||thumb|Ultra-Titan-Masterpiece Springer - it's ''bigger'' than the real thing.]]
After finding Drath's men test-driving the Autobots' now-inanimate bodies in the city, Springer ingratiated himself with the gang due to his ability to "pilot" the Autobot like a pro. The gang was set to infiltrate Autobot City inside their robot drones and then detonate Metroplex from the inside-out. After learning the plan, Springer carjacked himself (rescuing the captured Ultra Magnus in the process) and then flew to intercept the other Autobots before they reached Autobot City. Desperate to keep the Autobots from innocently letting their "friends" inside, Springer opened fire on Autobot City himself in order to force the Autobots to raise their defenses before the explosive-laden vehicles got too close. He succeeded in getting himself shot out of the sky, but at least Metroplex was put on alert and the bombing of Autobot City was stopped. Perceptor whipped up a reversal-transference doodad, and Springer and the others were returned to their rightful bodies. {{storylink|Only Human}}

After Galvatron's goons sabotaged the master power generator on Cybertron with [[anti-electron]]s, the Autobots began experiencing system irregularities. In Springer's case, he was attempted to fly [[Sky Lynx (G1)|Sky Lynx]] to the repair bay when he transformed in mid-air and crashed instead. The problem was eventually corrected, but surely Springer missed out on a good opportunity to tease Sky Lynx about tarnishing his "oh so perfect" flight record. {{storylink|Grimlock's New Brain}}

[[File:CotP-BlasterEject.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb|Blaster, please, now isn't the time for this!]]
On a barren planetoid, Springer was fighting alongside Rodimus Prime, Ultra Magnus and [[Blaster (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Blaster]] against the Decepticons. They were pinned down in the trenches, waiting for "[[Sky Lynx (G1)|Commander Modesty]]" to arrive and lend some air support. Once he arrived, though, Sky Lynx and the other "[[primitive]]s" on both sides were called into space by a signal only they could hear. Before either side could fully comprehend what had happened, a massive energy creature known as [[Tornedron]] arrived, draining them dry of their energy. Luckily, Grimlock and the primitives eventually managed to save the universe and undo the power loss suffered by Springer and the others. {{storylink|Call of the Primitives}}

During a skirmish in [[Japan]], Springer was present when Rodimus temporarily reverted to Hot Rod. He and the other Autobots held off an attack by the Decepticons when Scourge briefly took control of them and the Matrix of Leadership. {{storylink|The Burden Hardest to Bear}}
{{-}}
{{charstubfiction|{{storylink|Forever Is a Long Time Coming (episode)|Forever Is a Long Time Coming}}}}

====Japanese cartoon continuity====
=====''Transformers Legends'' comic (1)=====
In the [[Legends Universe]], upon recognizing [[Arcee (G1)|Arcee]] from ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]'', [[Rhinox (BW)|Rhinox]] and [[Tigatron]] recalled the scene where she fought [[Unicron]]'s inner defenses alongside Springer and Kup. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 10|Bonus Edition Vol. 10}}

In [[2004]], Springer was a founding member of a new Autobot unit known as the [[Wrecker]]s. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 7|Bonus Edition Vol. 7}}

=====Wars manga=====
{{charstubfiction|{{storylink|Rodimus Wars}}}}

=====''The Story of Super Robot Lifeforms''=====
Responding to an SOS from deep space, a team of Autobots including Springer helped rescue a human spacecraft from the jaws of a spaceship-eating Decepticon vessel. {{storylink|The Story of Super Robot Lifeforms: The Transformers issue 1|The Story of Super Robot Lifeforms: The Transformers #1}}

When the Autobots were attacked by the [[Megatron Corps]], Springer speculated that perhaps the Quintesson were behind this new threat. The Megatrons proved to be tough opponents, and Springer and the other Autobots encouraged Rodimus to get away to safety while they held the Megatrons back, but the Autobot leader refused. Soon, it was discovered that one of the Megatrons was Galvatron in disguise, who was remote-controlling the duplicate Megatrons himself. Rodimus dispatched Galvatron, and the Megatrons lost power, allowing Springer and [[Kup (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Kup]] to make short work of them. {{storylink|The Story of Super Robot Lifeforms: The Transformers issue 2|The Story of Super Robot Lifeforms: The Transformers #2}}

Springer was part of the Autobot team who traveled to the planet [[Feminia]] to defend its [[Prime Energy Tower]] against a Decepticon attack. Though things looked grim when [[Predaking (G1)|Predaking]] joined the fight, the Autobots wound up winning the day when the [[Omnibot (G1)|Omnibot]]s showed up and toppled the Decepticon into its fellow combiners [[Bruticus (G1)|Bruticus]], [[Menasor (G1)|Menasor]], and [[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]]. {{storylink|The Story of Super Robot Lifeforms: The Transformers issue 5|The Story of Super Robot Lifeforms: The Transformers #5}}

=====''The Great Transformer War''=====
After the resurrection of Optimus Prime, Springer battled [[Scourge (G1)|Scourge]] and the other Decepticons in deep space. {{storylink|The Great Transformer War issue 3|The Great Transformer War #3}}

=====''The Headmasters'' cartoon=====
Alongside [[Sandstorm (G1)|Sandstorm]] and [[Broadside (G1)|Broadside]], Springer was sent from [[Athenia]] to Cybertron in order to defend against a major Decepticon assault. {{storylink|Four Warriors Come out of the Sky}} The Triple Changers then travelled to Earth, where they helped [[Blaster (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Twincast]] sneak into [[Trypticon (G1)|Trypticon]] by keeping their Decepticon counterparts busy with a dogfight. {{storylink|The Great Cassette Operation}}

=====''Transformers Legends'' comic (2)=====
After his separation from Arcee, Springer began to eat his feelings and, by the [[2030]]s, his Wrecker teammates began to show concern for his increased girth. Embarrassed, Springer vowed to turn his life around. When [[Whirl (G1)#Transformers Legends comic|Whirl]] and [[Roadbuster (G1)#Transformers Legends comic|Roadbuster]] told him of their homeplace of the [[Legends Universe|Legends World]] and that he could get a new body there, Springer contacted [[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]] there, who created a portal for them to pass over. There, Springer got a new, sleek body from [[Rhinox (BW)#Transformers Legends comic|Rhinox]], and he immediately got a cadre of admirers. {{storylink|LG19 Sprung Prologue}} This drove [[Tigatron]] to jealously, and he stole Alpha Trion's [[10.2 ultra-drill|ultra-drill]] to bring in women from across the [[multiverse]] to adore the tiger. They all ultimately turned their attentions to Springer. Eventually, Springer came across the Legends Universe's [[Arcee (G1)#Transformers Legends comic|Arcee]], who he confused as [[Arcee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|his Arcee]]. After being corrected, Springer asked her out, but was immediately turned down. In shame, Springer fled back to his home dimension. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 19|Bonus Edition Vol. 19}}

====Madman ''The Transformers'' comic====
Springer aided in the Autobots' exodus of Cybertron when, in the year 2001, the Decepticons had managed to conquer the entire planet. He helped a wounded Wheeljack get aboard a spaceship as Optimus Prime covered their escape. {{storylink|The Transformers (Madman)|The Transformers}}

====''Wings Universe''====
{{Wingsnote}}
At the dawn of the [[Machine Wars (event)|Machine Wars]], Springer was granted full access to a "confiscated weapons" hold to better equip himself against [[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]] and his clone army. After arming himself to the teeth, he followed [[Strika (BM)|Strika]] and [[Obsidian (BM)|Obsidian]] into battle against the invaders. {{storylink|Termination}}

====Ask Vector Prime====
In a universe where [[Sideways (RID)|Sideways]] and [[Renegade#Gong|Gong]] had mixed [[GoBot]]s into the [[Unicron War]], Springer helped fight off [[Cy-Kill (GoBots)|Cy-Kill]]'s ambush on Autobot City. He fired on [[Renegade#Water Walk|Water Walk]] and teamed up with Arcee to help shift the fortress into its defensive configuration.

Then the universes twisted around each other, creating a timeline where the [[Guardian (GoBots)|Guardian]]s were besieged by Decepticons—a timeline where Springer never existed—and then a new timeline where members of all four factions were running around. After the death of [[Leader-1 (GoBots)|Leader-1]] and the advance of Unicron, Springer was forced to flee Earth with [[Guardian (GoBots)#Major Mo|Major Mo]], Arcee, Nick, and A.J. when Galvatron and his new minions [[Fracture (Movie)|Fracture]] and [[Deadlift]] attacked.

Springer's ship was shot down over [[Quartex (planet)|Quartex]], where they encountered [[Rock Lord#Magmar|Magmar]]'s evil [[Rock Lord]]s. When Kup and Hot Rod arrived from [[Antares 3|Antares III]], the re-united forces forged an alliance with [[Rock Lord#Boulder|Boulder]]'s heroic Rock Lords and drove off the villains. The Autobots, Guardians, [[Guardian (GoBots)#RoGuns|RoGun]]s, and Rock Lords made their way to Cybertron, where they battled Unicron. Unbeknownst to any, [[Vector Prime]] had fixed the crumbling reality from behind the scenes, and restored the Matrix to its normal state, allowing for Hot Rod to become Rodimus Prime and save the day. {{storylink|Echoes and Fragments}}

====''Deviations''====
In a world where Optimus survived the Battle of Autobot City, Springer was aboard Ultra Magnus’s shuttle; on Optimus’s orders, they planned to return to Cybertron and finish the Decepticons before they could regroup.

On the way back to Cybertron, the Autobot convoy was attacked by “Megascream” – the new leader of the Decepticons, a reformatted Starscream now in service of Unicron. Hot Rod impulsively decided to reverse the engines, and his maneuver warped the ship to the [[Tyrolian Quadrant]], above the planet Junkion. With the shuttle now critically damaged, Springer yelled at Hot Rod for his recklessness; although Hot Rod and Daniel ejected aboard an escape pod, the other members of the ship died when the shuttle exploded over Junkion. {{storylink|Transformers: Deviations|Deviations}}

===Marvel ''The Transformers'' comics===
{{noteukexclusive|Springer}}
[[File:Triplechangerstarget2006.jpg|left|upright=1.4|thumb|This trinity's going to war!]]
Springer was a member of the Wreckers commando squad, originally meant (with the other Triple Changers) to substitute for [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Ultra Magnus]] in [[Operation: Volcano]] to fend off the [[Decepticon]] reinforcements while the other Wreckers dealt with Cybertron's deadliest. [[Emirate]] [[Xaaron]] decided to the best way to convince [[Impactor (G1)|Impactor]] that Springer, [[Broadside (G1)|Broadside]] and [[Sandstorm (G1)|Sandstorm]] were up to replace Magnus was by having them pretend to be Decepticons and beating the [[Slag (slang)|slag]] out of him. So that's more or less what they did. Except they had to gang up against him. While he was unarmed. And with an [[inhibitor claw]] on his back. Nonetheless they did impress the Wreckers leader, and quickly begun training in [[Debris]]. But even as Volcano began, there were still worries that the three newcomers might not be enough to replace Magnus. Ultimately, Volcano did not take place, instead being replaced by Impactor having half his head blown off by a [[Macabre|nobody Decepticon]]. After blowing Macabre away, Springer and the Wreckers watched Impactor's life pass away. Evidently particularly impressed by Springer, Impactor chose him as his replacement to lead his motley crew. {{storylink|Target: 2006}}

[[File:Magnus springer under fire.jpg|thumb|upright=1.6]]
Despite Springer being placed in this position of authority, he continued to unquestioningly take orders from Ultra Magnus. Under his command, they tracked down what Magnus thought was a Decepticon spy disguised as Optimus Prime, and prepared to gun him down. Unbeknownst to them, the Autobot commander was the genuine article. The execution was interrupted by Outback, who distracted Springer and his Wreckers with a gas particle bomb in order to allow Prime to escape. Springer was unperturbed by this turn of events, and assured Ultra Magnus that his troops would catch up to the escapees in a few breems. Magnus requested instead that he be allowed to chase down the "spy" himself, borrowing a trio of [[Guardian (Marvel)|Guardian]] units to do so. {{storylink|Under Fire!}} Doubt began to creep into Magnus's mind as he pursued his quarry, however. Springer and the other Wreckers joined in chasing the "spy" while [[Xaaron|Emirate Xaaron]] was called in to voice his opinion on the situation. Springer, Whirl, Broadside and Sandstorm were the ones who located the target first, but Xaaron arrived in time to recognize that Optimus truly was who he purported to be, and Optimus was welcomed back into the fold. {{storylink|Distant Thunder!}} Afterwards Prime rallied the Autobot forces on Cybertron, leading Springer and the other Wreckers on raids to secure Decepticon-held ressources. The last of these raids launched without Optimus present however, as it served as a distraction, allowing him to face off against Megatron while Springer and the others kept the Decepticon rank-and-file occupied. {{storylink|Resurrection!}}

After the super-Decepticon [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]] wound up trapped in the hardened lava-flow of [[Mount Verona]] on Earth, Springer sent three of his soldier, [[Sizzle (G1)|Sizzle]], [[Guzzle (G1)|Guzzle]], and [[Fizzle]], to keep tabs on him. But when their first report came in, they had shocking news: not only had Galvatron broken free from his prison, but the trio had lost track of him after he had made his way to the Ocean floor off the coast of Florida. Springer was at a loss on what to do next, considering that Galvatron had proved near-invincible in the past. {{storylink|Enemy Action!}}

[[File:Generic autobots marvel uk 166.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.3|Being nuked is no excuse for lack of proper hallway etiquette, Springer. ]]
Springer felt unworthy of his role as leader, and suffered from worries that he couldn't handle it, worries made worse when he proved unprepared as [[Kalis]] was overrun by the undead. Upon facing Impactor's [[zombie]], Springer mentally crumbled, rendering him completely ineffective against the shambling horde. The Wreckers were captured by the zombies' master, the mad scientist [[Flame (Marvel)|Flame]], and the lot of them were put in a cell guarded by the undead Impactor. As they were all fitted with [[inhibitor band]]s, preventing them from transforming, Springer's leaping abilities presented the Wrecker's with only one means of escape; the tormented Triple Changer would have to overcome his self-doubt, and jump through a ceiling grate to reach the surface. Xaaron convinced Springer to once more believe in himself, but as he made the jump, Impactor grabbed a hold of Springer, and both burst into the ventilation ducting above. By imploring him to fight Flame's control, Springer succeeded in getting Impactor's mind to resurface, allowing him to carry on to meet up with Ultra Magnus's team. {{storylink|Legion of the Lost!}} After informing Magnus's team of had been going on, Springer doubled back to put an end to the crazed scientist's schemes. As they walked, Springer learned that Magnus had also recently made a questionable decision as leader of his unit; letting his Decepticon captive, [[Flywheels]], go in order to secure reinforcements. Springer sympathized with his fellow commander, as they both were forced to make impossible decisions and live with the consequences.

[[File:Springer sparkabots magnus meltdown.jpg|thumb|upright=1.95]]
By the time Springer's group made it back to the Wreckers' cell, the prisoners had already freed themselves and made short work of another legion of zombies. Both groups merged, only to find their path blocked by a massive blast door. Taking [[Broadside (G1)|Broadside]] with him, Springer headed for the surface once more, this time to grab some heavy armament and blast through this newest obstacle. They didn't get far before coming upon [[Trypticon (G1)|Trypticon]]! But the massive Decepticon was on their side; Flywheels had come through with reinforcements after all. With the behemoth's help, the Autobots breached Flame's inner sanctum, though a little too late. The planetary engines were already destabilizing, and the only way to shut them down was to go into a control room already bathed in deadly radiation. Springer volunteered to lay down his life for the mission, but Xaaron insisted on doing it himself. Cutting through the remnants of Flame's zombie army, Springer made it back to the surface... and was soon joined by Xaaron after all! It turned out, the undead Impactor had once more sacrificed himself to save his homeworld. Springer and the Autobots stood in solemn silence, paying homage to their fallen comrade for his heroism. {{storylink|Meltdown!}}

[[File:Nightstickwreckinghavoc.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.6]]
That done, it was time for the main mission: Take the Wreckers to Earth to face [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]]. Springer helped prepare for the journey while Ultra Magnus and the Sparkler Mini-bots found themselves getting roped into another mission on Cybertron. {{storylink|Deadly Games!}} Unfortunately, Springer's team found themselves sent by the [[space bridge]] to a human city, as Galvatron was meeting with two other time-displaced Decepticons, [[Cyclonus (G1)|Cyclonus]] and [[Scourge (G1)|Scourge]]. Though this threatened to compromise the mission immediately, the Wreckers nonetheless threw themselves at their foe. As Springer had predicted, the fight against Galvatron began causing major destruction and endangerment of human life, so he decided to lure Cyclonus and Scourge away, pretending he'd captured Galvatron's time-jump device. The rest of his team quickly followed, saving Springer from getting killed by the two Decepticon stooges, but allowing Galvatron to escape in the process. The mission a failure, Springer led the Wreckers back to Cybertron with the intent of returning for Galvatron later. {{storylink|Wrecking Havoc}}

[[File:Uk203 cover detail.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|"See Springer, that's the difference between you and I. Organization. Careful thinking. Forward
planning. And that is why I sleep in the arms of a beautiful woman and you spend your evenings alone in your bedsit. With ''cheap porn''."]]
On their homeworld, Springer managed to form a tenuous alliance with [[Carnivac (G1)|Carnivac]]'s [[Mayhem Attack Squad]]; a time storm resulting from the super-Decepticon's prolonged stay in the past had formed, threatening all of reality and convincing the Decepticons to aid in the Wreckers' mission to return him to his proper era. Unfortunately, by the time the Autobots' [[Advance Surveillance Unit]] located Galvatron once more, he had formed an alliance with "[[Straxus (G1)|Megatron]]." Even with the support of the Decepticons, the Wreckers were massacred, with Springer's order to retreat and fight a running battle doing nothing to stop the slaughter. He did manage to speak with Scourge during the battle though, convincing him to help in mending the [[time rift]] by fetching Cyclonus's body. Furthermore, Springer's heroism impressed Mayhem leader [[Carnivac (G1)|Carnivac]] so much he disobeyed his orders to kill the surviving Autobots; the two also saved each other's life during the battle. {{storylink|Time Wars}}

[[File:Survivors marvel uk 222.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.7]]
In the battle's aftermath, Springer and his remaining teammates were left stranded on Earth, with their compatriots on Cybertron telling them they were unable to send over a new ship. Growing frustrated and paranoid, the Wreckers began to believe that the other Autobots were embarrassed by their task force, and were purposely ignoring them. They were approached by Carnivac and Catilla, who felt equally abandoned by their own faction. With them was another Decepticon [[Pretender]], [[Snarler]], who still felt that allying with the Autobots constituted treason. Himself hesitant to join forces, Springer was relieved when Inferno reported on a procession of emergency vehicles passing by, and used this development to postpone the conversation. Springer, Inferno, and Broadside investigated while the Decepticons hung back.

The Autobots found [[Skids (G1)|Skids]], recently released from [[Limbo]], threatening to explode the [[Hudden Nuclear Power Plant]] in order to eradicate several monsters that had spawned from his dreams in the nether-dimension. Springer and the others managed to talk him down from triggering a nuclear meltdown, but hesitated in killing the monsters, fearing that their destruction would lead to Skids's death. The odds stacked against them, Springer called upon the Decepticons they had met earlier for aid. Snarler and Catilla arrived in time to turn the tide of battle and all of the monsters were killed. Better yet, it turned out that Skids could survive independently from the monsters after all! Fighting alongside Carnivac once more put to rest any doubts Springer had; he readily accepted the Decepticon's offer to band together. Their group branded themselves the "[[Survivors]]," with Springer becoming their leader. {{storylink|Survivors!}}

[[File:Springer broadside inferno skids survival run.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4]]
Carnivac eventually chafed under his leadership, and whacked Springer one, while ranting that he had grown tired of rescuing humans all the time. Though Catilla tried to convince Springer to have patience with the Decepticon, Carnivac's outburst convinced Springer that they would never see eye-to-eye. Unfortunately for Carnivac, he left Springer's group right when a new Mayhem Attacked Squad arrived to kill him! {{storylink|Way of the Warrior}} When he learned of Carnivac's plight, Springer decided that their teammate had forfeited his membership to the Survivors already, and thus was on his own to deal with his attackers. Catilla was outraged by this verdict, and left to help out his fellow ex-Decepticon. Springer turned to his fellow Autobots, looking for approval for his decision, only to be met with glares and scowls. {{storylink|Survival Run}} He was convinced by the others to go to Carnivac's aid, but while Carnivac was saved, [[Catilla (G1)|Catilla]] was killed. {{storylink|A Savage Place!}}
{{-}}

====Earthforce====
{{earthforcefiction}}
[[File:Wolf in the Fold Springer.jpg|left|upright=0.85|thumb|Grrrrr. >:(]]
Springer wanted to wait for the Mayhem Attack Squad to make the first mistake before seeking vengeance for Catilla, but Carnivac couldn't wait. He set off on his own to enact his revenge. Without time to formulate a decent plan, Springer realized the Survivors would need raw numbers to defeat the Mayhems, and that meant dealing with [[Grimlock (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Grimlock]] and [[Earthforce]]. Asking for help to save a Decepticon... Springer ruminated that Grimlock was likely to declare them all traitors on the spot. {{storylink|Wolf in the Fold!}} Still, they went to Earthforce, pledging the Survivors' allegiance in return for them helping rescue Carnivac. Upon storming the beach where the Mayhems were holed up however, Springer learned from Bludgeon that they were apparently too late; according to him, Carnivac was already dead! However, it turned out that Carnivac had only faked his death by allowing the destruction of his Pretender shell. He turned up just as Springer was about to execute Bludgeon in revenge, staying the Autobot's hand in order to deny Bludgeon a warrior's death. The remaining Mayhems were taken into Autobot custody, Snarler, Needlenose, and Spinister having already met their end at Carnivac's hands. {{storylink|Where Wolf?}}

[[File:Starscream survivors divide and conquer.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1]]
Soon thereafter, the Earth-based Decepticons under [[Starscream (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Starscream]] and [[Soundwave (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Soundwave]] attempted to divide the Autobots' attention, staging a full-scale assault on [[Earthbase]] while Starscream secured a [[Oil tanker|tanker full of fuel]] in the meantime. While the main Earthforce defended their base, however, Springer led the Survivors in fighting back against Starscream's energy-stealing attempt. {{storylink|Divide and Conquer!}} When [[Superion (G1)|Superion]] came under the mental thrall of one of [[Bombshell (G1)|Bombshell]]'s cerebro shells, Springer acompanied Grimlock and [[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]] in their attempts to stop the rampaging combiner. Superion proved to be too powerful to stop with brute force, and so the Autobots coerced [[Irwin Spoon (G1)|Irwin Spoon]] into infiltrating Superion's infra-structure, and removing the cerebro shell manually. Irwin succeeded in the nick of time, stopping Superion just before Springer and the others were forced to open fire on him to prevent a township from being crushed. {{storylink|Inside Story!}}
{{-}}

====Marvel UK future timelines====
{{note|The movie adaptation, originally published by Marvel US, is in italics}}
''At some point, earlier in their careers, Springer and Ultra Magnus managed to evade Megatron's forces by triggering a domino-effect within an asteroid field near the planet [[Beta 4|Beta Four]]. They caused the space rocks to collide into one another until the debris made it impossible for the Decepticons to track them.'' {{storylink|Judgment Day!}}

''In [[2005]], Springer was stationed at [[Autobot City (G1)|Autobot City]] when it came under a major offensive from Megatron and his Decepticons. He and Arcee transformed the outpost into its defensive configuration, but the enemy nevertheless managed to breach its walls. The Decepticons were eventually driven off, but at a steep price; in the battle's aftermath, Optimus lay mortally wounded. Afterwards, Springer witnessed Optimus pass on the Matrix of Leadership over to Ultra Magnus before expiring on his deathbed.'' {{storylink|The Planet-Eater!}}

''The Autobots were only given a brief respite before more bad news reached them: a "monster planet," [[Unicron/Generation 1|Unicron]], was encroaching on Cybertron, and devouring its moons! The Autobots quickly prepared to head to Cybertron aboard two shuttles, only to be attacked by Decepticon forces led by [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]], the upgraded form of Megatron. In a last-ditch effort to lose the Decepticons, Ultra Magnus ordered an emergency separation of his group's shuttle. After Galvatron destroyed the jettisoned portion of the vessel (and declared the Matrix destroyed), Springer and his crewmates landed their craft on the [[Junkion (planet)|Planet of Junk]] for repairs.'' {{storylink|Judgment Day!}}

'' Though the young boy [[Daniel Witwicky (G1)|Daniel]] insisted he wanted to help out, Springer dismissed him, advising the human to stay inside and "play with crayons or something." He showed a more supportive side, however, after Arcee provided Daniel with an [[exosuit]], allowing him to match the Autobots' resilience. But the Autobots barely got any work done before the Decepticons tracked them down once more. Ultra Magnus was drawn in quarters, and Galvatron took off with the Matrix in hand. Worse yet, the hostile [[Junkion (species)|Junkions]] next moved in for an attack. Thankfully, Another group, comprising Kup, Hot Rod, and others, then arrived and made peace-talk with the Junkions. All those on Junk then readied for a confrontation against Unicron. This engagement saw the Autobots' ship crash through the titan's eye, and Springer's group found Bumblebee, Jazz, and Spike inside Unicron. Also within Unicron, Hot Rod retrieved the Matrix, which both upgraded him into Rodimus Prime and began a chain reaction, culminating in Unicron's destruction! With the threat now dealt with, the Autobots gathered around Rodimus Prime, who announced that this day would mark a new chapter in Cybertronian history, one that would hopefully contain much peace and happiness.'' {{storylink|The Final Battle!}}

[[File:Peace Rodimus Springer.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|left|Springimus Prime?]]
In [[2008]], Springer was briefly seen among a massive melee between the Autobots and Decepticons on Cybertron. {{storylink|The Legacy of Unicron!}} Later that year, he was stationed in Autobot City on Earth as it came under siege from Quintesson invaders. All Autobots within the outpost were off-lined and strung up to its outer walls by the aggressors. They were eventually rescued after Hot Rod managed to activate [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]] and drove the Quintessons off. {{storylink|Space Pirates!}}

In one future, set in the year [[2510]], the war with the Decepticons finally came to a conclusion. Springer led his Wreckers into battle in Cybertron's northern hemisphere, wiping out the last of the remaining Decepticon warriors. When [[Hot Rod/Marvel Comics continuity|Rodimus Prime]] officially declared the war over, he decided to nominate Springer to carry on the [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix]] for him. Tragically, however, things wouldn't be that simple. A deep-cover Decepticon named [[Triton]] stirred up trouble at the meeting by declaring Ultra Magnus a better choice for the new Autobot leader. His antics led to a brawl between Springer's Wreckers and the [[Technobot (G1)|Technobots]], who favored Ultra Magnus. Although Triton was killed in the fight, it was too late: the war began again, this time with Autobot vs. Autobot. {{storylink|Peace}}

====Another Time & Place====
[[File:Another Time Place Fangry.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb]]
Grimlock and the [[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobots]] rushed off half-cocked searching for a cure for [[Nucleon (substance)|Nucleon]] on [[Hydrus Four]], and it was up to the Autobots to bail them out of trouble when they were caught by the Decepticons. Working with a small group (including [[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]], [[Nightbeat (G1)|Nightbeat]], [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] and [[Blaster (G1)|Blaster]]), Springer caught the Decepticon [[Fangry]] alone and pulled him into the sea. Before he could fight back, Springer used a thermal knife to amputate both of his arms, leaving the [[Headmaster (technology)|Headmaster]] helpless against his Autobot attackers. Cold, Springer. Awesome, but cold.

The Autobots then sprung a surprise attack on the remaining Decepticons, ending in a total victory for Springer and his teammates. With [[Bludgeon (G1)|Bludgeon]]'s defeat, and [[Megatron (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Megatron]]'s revival aborted, the war finally came to an end. {{storylink|Another Time & Place}}

====Marvel ''Generation 2'' comic====
[[File:Springerg2.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|left|Hey, Marvel US, it's me!]]
When the [[Cybertronian (faction)|Cybertronians]] ambushed the [[Autobot]]s on the planet [[Ethos]], Springer was in charge of a squad consisting of former [[Wrecker]]s buddies [[Inferno (G1)|Inferno]] and [[Broadside (G1)|Broadside]], Inferno's buddy [[Smokescreen (G1)|Smokescreen]], and [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]]. Although Springer warned his squad to stay close together, Smokescreen broke formation, resulting in his death and the injuring of Ironhide. Smokescreen's death caused Inferno to lose his temper, and he subsequently also died despite Springer's warnings. {{storylink|Escalation!}}

Springer later helped lay [[Sky Sniper]] mines on Earth, in preparation for a final stand against the coming of the [[Swarm (G2)|Swarm]]. {{storylink|A Rage in Heaven!}}
{{-}}

====''Classics''====
{{noteclassics}}
[[File:Classics Ultramagnus Springer Grimlock comic.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|Springer's the one who doesn't know how binoculars work. Well, one of them, anyway.]]
Springer mainly worked alone against the Decepticons until after [[Bludgeon (G1)|Bludgeon]]'s defeat on [[Klo]]. Fearing the end of the conflict that was so important to him, he was eager to sign on with Grimlock's crew. {{storylink|Games of Deception|''Classics'' Springer profile}}

Fifteen years after the Autobot/Decepticon war ended on Klo, Springer was head of security under Substitute Commander Ultra Magnus aboard the ''[[Graviton (Classics)|Graviton]]'' as it tracked [[Bug Bite (GoBots)|Bug Bite]] to Earth. Springer was looking forward to seeing Grimlock again. Once on Earth, Springer and Ultra Magnus were spying on a meeting between the Decepticons that had followed Bludgeon and those that had thrown their lot in with Starscream. After observing Mirage get captured and Bug Bite using modified [[cerebro-shell]]s to control some of the assembled Decepticons, they withdrew. Later using modified cerebro-shell jammers, Springer was part of the Autobot force that disrupted Bug Bite's meeting with [[Megatron (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Megatron]]. The disrupted meeting led to Decepticon firing on Decepticon and in the chaos that followed, Springer disabled the Decepticon computers, allowing the raiding party to withdraw with a rescued Mirage. {{storylink|Games of Deception}}

[[File:AtFightsEnd-OverkillDragstripAcidStorm.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.4|And then there was a fight. We guess.]]
Later, [[Acid Storm]], [[Drag Strip (G1)|Drag Strip]], and [[Overkill (G1)|Overkill]] were waiting on a dusty planet when Springer's rogue team of Autobots attempted to hunt them down. {{storylink|At Fight's End}}
{{-}}

====''Regeneration One''====
{{noterg1}}
[[File:Wreckers loose ends.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|Alright you lazy bums, it's time to make 'em sorry for leaving us outta the first eighty issues!]]
Springer interrupted [[Kup (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Kup]]'s [[solid light simulation|holographic training session]] (just before Kup would have been defeated by [[Megatron (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Megatron]]) to tell him that the [[Skyscorcher]]s were holed up in the [[Pax Cybertronia Decommissioning Depot]], where they feared they would detonate [[Warbird|cobalt-60 warheads]]. Though disapproved by [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Optimus Prime]], Springer and the [[Wrecker]]s invaded the facility and captured the Deluxe [[Insecticon (G1)|Insecticon]]s, saving countless lives. The Wreckers joined Kup in his quest to help the other planets affected by the [[Great War (G1)|Great War]], and travelled to [[Earth]], hitching a ride aboard the [[Cosmic Carnival]]. Unfortunately they learned the entire planet had been devastated, and were summarily blown out of the sky by nuclear missiles, launched by Megatron. {{storylink|Loose Ends, Part 1}}

[[File:Springer ratbat loose ends.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.2]]
Using escape pods, they crash-landed on Earth. To send a message of their findings to Cybertron, Springer and the Wreckers targeted the [[Deep Space Network]]. While [[Sandstorm (G1)|Sandstorm]], [[Leadfoot (G2)|Leadfoot]] and [[Roadbuster (G1)|Roadbuster]] drew off most of the pursuing zombie-cons, Kup, [[Whirl (G1)|Whirl]] and Springer made for the dish. When more pursuers appeared, Kup peeled off to deal with them, urging Springer and Whirl to get the message through. {{storylink|Loose Ends, Part 2}} After [[Rack'n'Ruin]] discovered and was attacked by [[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Circuit Smasher]], Springer and the other Wreckers quickly surrounded the super-human until a truce was reached. Circuit Smasher, a.k.a. Spike Witwicky took the Wreckers to [[Argus Base]] where they met with [[G.B. Blackrock]]. As they all discussed the fate of Earth and of Spike, they received a broadcast from Megatron holding Kup hostage—an obvious trap, but one that gave Springer an idea. {{storylink|Loose Ends, Part 3}}

Springer took fellow helicopters Sandstorm and Whirl to engage Megatron's forces—knowing it was likely a suicide mission—to give the other Wreckers and Spike's team a chance to storm the [[Ark (G1)|Ark]]. After Springer was brought down by [[Starscream (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Starscream]], Megatron told him that though killing had lost its appeal, he occasionally would do so to set an example to those who would oppose him. Before Megatron could follow through, Optimus Prime and his team arrived. {{storylink|Loose Ends, Part 4}}

Prime commanded Megatron to let Springer go, but the Decepticon leader coldly executed him, sending Prime into a furious attack. {{storylink|Loose Ends, Part 5}} Kup was very upset over Springer's death, and blamed his death on Optimus's inaction. {{storylink|Natural Selection, Part One}}

Another version of Springer was killed in a parallel future, and his corpse was briefly seen by Hot Rod as he passed through on a journey from Primus. {{storylink|Less Than Zero}}

===Marvel coloring books===
Millions of years ago, before the Ark first left for the Earth, Springer loaded a particularly large shipment of Energon onto the Ark. It would later become lost when the Ark crashed into Mt. St. Hillary. {{storylink|The Lost Treasure of Cybertron}}

{{charstubfiction|{{storylink|The Invasion of the Decepticon Camp}}}}

Springer was returning from a road trip with Daniel, Hound and Hot Rod, Bumblebee, Blurr, Wheelie, Kup and Sunstreaker when the group paused to eat at a rest stop. As the Autobots ingested Energon Cubes, Hot Rod asked Kup to tell a story. Kup told the others the story of the loss of the large shipment of Energon, and how it remained lost to the day. Enthralled by Kup's story, the rest of the group were all eager to go looking for this lost treasure. Then Sunstreaker and Springer noticed Laserbeak taking off from their location. The two Autobots realized that Laserbeak had been spying on them the whole time, and would soon inform Galvatron about the lost Energon shipment. Springer and Susntreaker attempted to shoot down Laserbeak to no avail. Springer and the others rushed back to Metroplex to inform Ultra Magnus on the situation. After a brief conference, Ultra Magnus led his troops to the Ark's crash site. Finding the Decepticons there already, the two factions began to fight. The stash of Energon was uncovered when Rumble used his earthquake-inducing abilities. Springer snatched the box up immediately, and attempted to keep it away from the Decepticons by tossing it to Brawn, who in turn tossed it to Grimlock. The box of energon was torn open and was completely gobbled up by Starscream, who proclaimed himself the most powerful Decepticon. With nothing left to fight over, Springer and the Autobots left Galvatron and Starscream to their squabble. {{storylink|The Lost Treasure of Cybertron}}

{{charstubfiction|{{storylink|Hot Rod's Escape}}}}

===Sticker Adventures===
[[File:Springer botjp.jpg|left|upright=0.85|thumb|In the Special Edition, Wreck-Gar shoots first.]]
Springer was one of four Autobots working on mapping the universe when their shuttle is hit by a meteor. Forced into an emergency landing on the [[Junkion (planet)|Junk Planet]], they were attacked by [[Junkion (species)|Junkions]] until Hot Rod & Kup arrived to save their skidplates. {{storylink|Battle on the Junk Planet}}
{{charstubfiction|{{storylink|Galvatron Attacks}}}}

===Toy pack-in material===
Springer teamed up with [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]] and [[Blurr (G1)|Blurr]] during a tumultuous battle on a moonbase, in an attempt to slay [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]]. Springer managed to sock Galvatron good, sending the tyrant hurling away. {{storylink|Decipher the Decepticon}}

When the Decepticons stole the Creation Matrix, Springer was called upon by Ultra Magnus to help retrieve it. Thanks to an army of [[decoy]]s, the Autobots were successful in retrieving their sacred relic. {{storylink|Start Your Own Decoy Collection}}

===Find Your Fate Junior===
{{notemultipath}}
====Autobot Alert!====
Alongside Beachcomber and Blurr, Springer was assigned a secret mission; to uncover the location of a sphere of cybertite, containing an ancient Autobot formula. Partway through the mission, Decepticon storm troopers blasted their way into the Autobots’ research centre, stole a secret message Springer had coded for Kup’s eyes only, and short-circuited him.

In one possible scenario, a squad of Autobots reached the Autobots’ desert research centre, and Sringer was fixed up by Ratchet. Fully operational once more, he explained that the cybertite sphere crashed down in a nearby crater centuries ago, but was found by humans during the 16th century who subsequently moved it. If the Decepticons had decoded Springer's message, they would be searching off the coast of California, where the ship containing the sphere had sunk. If they hadn’t decoded the message, the Decepticons would still be digging in the nearby crater. Springer was for heading towards the crater first.

If Ultra Magnus decided to head for the California coast right away, he split up his forces to more efficiently handle the situation. Springer was part of the main Autobot forces that were led towards the coast by Ultra Magnus. Arriving at the scene, Ultra Magnus’s troops were informed by Powerglide (who had flown ahead of the land-bound group) that he had discovered the location of the sunken ship containing the cybertite sphere. Simultaneously, Blurr caught up with the group to inform them that the Decepticons were quickly approaching. The Autobots then needed to decide whether they would raise the ship themselves, or try and ambush the Decepticons after they had done so.

If Ultra Magnus decided to have his Autobots hide while the Decepticons raised the ship, Springer found himself in a cave with Seaspray and Topspin. The three Autobots spied Devastator retrieving the sunken ship from the water, and decided that the three of them would snatch the sphere away from the Decepticons.

If Springer Seaspray and Topspin executed their plan before any of the other Autobots, Springer instructed the two seaworthy Autobots to head out a few miles, and then return to create a distraction while he retrieved the sphere. The plan went off without a hitch, and Springer used his powerful leg mechanisms to leap his way back to Metroplex. {{storylink|Autobot Alert!}}
{{-}}

====The Invisibility Factor====
In one possible scenario, the Autobots were informed by Kup and Hot Rod that the Decepticons had taken possession of an [[Invisibility Device]], created by the human [[Sarah Sanders]], and taken it into space to study it. Ultra Magnus put together a team of Autobots and took off in one of their shuttles to pursue them. Springer was the shuttle’s pilot. Once in space, however, the Autobots had difficulty pinpointing the Decepticons’ location. The ship’s crew had to decided where to look next for the Decepticons. Springer grimly considered that the Decepticons might be anywhere, as they had already figured out the workings of the Invisibility Device.

If the Autobots decided to investigate the dark side of the moon, they found themselves unable to see anything on the satellite’s shadowy surface. Springer waited silently as Ultra Magnus, Jazz and Hot Rod discussed possible plans of action.

If Ultra Magnus decided to go through with Hot Rod’s plan of shooting down to trick the Decepticons into revealing themselves, the Autobots succeeded only in making themselves an easy target for their enemies. The Decepticons blasted their shuttle to bits. Springer and his friends were reduced to space junk.

If Ultra Magnus listened to Jazz’s plan, he ordered his Autobots to remain silent, and to shut off all of the shuttle’s lights and mechanisms. Launching a probe as a decoy, the Autobots successfully tricked the Decepticons into revealing their position when they mistook the probe as their shuttle and opened fire upon it. Firing back, the Autobots began crippling the Decepticons’ ship, until a lucky shot rocked their own shuttle. Though the Decepticons attempted to escape while the Autobots were off-balance, Springer took careful aim and delivered the finishing blow, ending the Decepticons’ menace as the evil robots' ship exploded.

In an alternate scenario wherein the Autobots listened to Prowl’s suggested and searched the Asteroid Belt beyond Mars, they soon found themselves struggling to get through the maze of floating rocks. Though they began receiving damage as they travelled deeper into the asteroid field, Springer wanted to continue exploring it, stating that if the Decepticons could do it, so could he. Hot Rod pointed out that they did not even know for sure if the Decepticons had headed into the belt in the first place.

If the Autobots pushed on their search in the Asteroid Belt, they soon found themselves on a collision course with two enormous asteroids. If despite his best efforts, Springer only managed to blast one of asteroids, the Autobots were forced to retreat back to Earth after their shuttle took substantial damage. If Springer managed to blast neither of the Asteroids, they were all crushed between the giant pieces of space debris.

If they managed to blast away both asteroids, they reached a vast, empty expanse of space within the asteroid belt. Springer and the others were not given much time to regain their bearings, as the Decepticons, now invisible, began firing upon their shuttle. The Autobots considered retreating, but Kup reminded them that Sarah Sanders had not perfected her device yet, and the Decepticons’ invisibility may yet wear off.

If the Autobots attempted to flee from the Decepticons’ attack, they found themselves at too much of a disadvantage to successfully make it out of the Asteroid Belt. They were blown into space junk before they could reach Earth.

If the Autobots held their ground, they were instructed by Ultra Magnus not to open fire upon the Decepticons until ordered to do so. Though things were tense as the Autobots were hit over and over again by their invisible opponents, soon the enemy ship came into view, just as Kup had predicted. The Autobots opened fire on the flimsier vessel, blowing it and the Decepticons within to smithereens.

If the Autobots did retreat out of the Asteroid Belt, they convinced one another that the Decepticons most likely perished within it. Then, a few days later, when the invisible Decepticons attacked Metroplex city, Springer and the rest of the Autobots were reduced to scrap metal, unable to fight the unseen enemy.

In a completely different possible scenario, Springer was sent out with Jazz, Prowl and Sunstreaker to accompany Kup and Hot Rod when the latter two reported having seen the mysterious ship land in the middle of the desert.

If the Autobots gave up searching for the ship, Ultra Magnus and the rest of the Autobots within Metroplex were caught by surprise by a fleet of identical ships swooping down upon them. The Autobots were all destroyed as Galvatron gloated of his victory.

If Hot Rod and Kup convinced the other Autobots to keep on looking, Hot Rod eventually found trail marks, indicating that a heavy object the size of their spacecraft had indeed landed and had been dragged away. Springer and the others followed the trail to a more rocky terrain, where tracking the ship would become more difficult. The trail seemingly lost, the Autobots then heard someone incoming, and took cover. From their hiding places, they saw the Decepticons Scavenger, a human captive within the grasp of his steam-shovel.

If the Autobots decided to rescue Sarah immediately, Scavenger dropped the woman, and cried for help while attempting to flee.

If the Autobots pursued Scavenger, they found him rejoining a whole squadron of Decepticons.

If the Autobots pursued Scavenger, they found him rejoining a whole squadron of Decepticons. Fighting the Decepticons immediately would cost them their lives. Otherwise, if the Autobots decided on a retreat when faced by the whole squadron of Decepticons, they managed to do so by blinding their enemies by their high beams and then splitting off into different direction. They later regrouped and found Sarah Sanders wandering in the desert.

If the Autobots asked Sarah to build them their own Invisibility Device, Sarah refused, stating she would not build weapons for war. Running away from the group Sarah was almost killed when Dirge passed overhead and dropped a missile on her position. After rescuing her from the Decepticon attack, Springer and the others brought Sarah to safety within Metroplex. Grateful for the rescue, Sarah showed the Autobots how to create an [[Invisibility Scrambler]] to counteract the Decepticons’ Invisibility Device. Anticipating the Decepticons’ attack, the Autobots successfully defeated the evil robots when they came.

If instead of asking Sarah to build them an Invisibility Device, Springer and the others attempted once more to retrieve her ship, the whole group snuck over to where the Decepticons were stationed. Once there, Hot Rod and Prowl argued over which plan of action would be the smartest to undertake next.

If the Autobots agreed with Hot Rod to try and take the Decepticons by surprise with a head-on attack, the Autobots manage to stun the Decepticons by dazzling them with their headlights. springer provided Hot Rod some cover fire while the young Autobot raced down and snatched the Invisibility Device from the Decepticons. The Autobots then successfully peeled back, congratulating one another on a job well done.

If the Autobots agreed with Prowl to take a moment to come up with a more detailed plan, Prowl instructed Hot Rod to taunt the Decepticons into following him. The plan worked, and the bulk of the Decepticons took off after the young Autobot. With only Scavenger, Shockwave and Galvatron left behind, Springer and the others easily defeated the Decepticons still guarding the spaceship, and forced Galvatron to retreat. In one possible scenario that followed, Springer helped destroy a hidden Decepticon base that Hot Rod found while the Decepticons gave him chase. In another, Springer watched on as Sarah left in her spaceship in order to destroy it, vowing it would never be used to bring destruction.

In an alternate scenario where the Autobots silently trailed Scavenger while the Decepticon held Sarah Sanders captive, Springer and the others followed him all the way to the Decepticons’ secret desert base. Inside, they spied upon Galvatron telling Sarah Sanders that the Decepticons would use Cerebro-Shells to control her mind, so that she would reveal to them to secret of invisibility. At this point, the Autobots decided to step in. A direct attack would only end in the Autobots’ defeat.

In order to rescue Sarah, the Autobots would need to employ trickery. Using Jazz’s special abilities, the Autobots could do just that. In this scenario, the Autobots grabbed Sarah while the Decepticons were too dazzled by the illusions that Jazz projected. Sarah directed the Autobots towards where the Decepticons had stored her ship. Upon following her directions, Springer and the others came upon two doors, unable to tell behind which one they would find their means of escape.

If the Autobots happened upon Sarah’s ship as they were, they would be destroyed by the droids guarding it. However, if the Autobots first opened the door which lead to a closet filled with Decepticon spare parts, they found a pile of spare Decepticon emblems. Donning them, Springer and the rest of his team were able to fool the Decepticon Droids guarding Sarah’s ship. Escaping in the ship, despite the Decepticons best efforts to stop them, the Autobots returned to Metroplex. Sarah then gave the Autobots the secret to her Invisibility Device, ensuring the Autobots their victory in their war against the Decepticons. {{storylink|The Invisibility Factor}}
{{-}}

===St. Michael ''The Transformers'' Sticker Book===
{{notemultipath}}
Springer served on an alien spacecraft with the Autobots [[Hot Rod]], [[Sandstorm (G1)|Sandstorm]], and [[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]] under the command of Ultra Magnus. While fighting Decepticons, their spaceship took heavy damage and crash-landed on the planet [[Barrenikon]]. There, he met [[you]], having just emerged from the Vortex, a portal through space and time contained within the planet. Together, you went on an adventure, fighting Decepticons, braving Barrenikon's barren desert or its putrid swamp, and trying to find a way to get the Autobots space-bound once more. {{storylink|The Transformers Sticker Book (St. Michael)|The Transformers Sticker Book}}
{{-}}

===3H comics===
Not long after the signing of the [[Pax Cybertronia]], the Wrecker Springer attempted (fruitlessly) to cheer up [[Arcee (G1)|Arcee]], who had become severely depressed following the death of her surrogate son and Headmaster companion [[Daniel Witwicky (G1)|Daniel Witwicky]]. Afterward, he and Hot Rod, now called simply "Rodimus", both checked out and later underwent the [[Great Upgrade|Maximal Upgrade]]. {{storylink|Departure}}

===Dreamwave ''Generation One'' continuity===
[[File:TWW Escalation Springer.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Spring-heeled jerk.]]
Shortly after [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]] rose to become leader of the Autobots, the [[Forum of Enlightenment]] was destroyed by [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]] in a spectacular explosion. Springer investigated its ruins afterwards from the air. {{storylink|The War Within issue 2|The War Within #2}}

After Optimus disappeared along with Megatron into prototype [[space bridge]], Springer broke off from the Autobot army and formed the Wreckers. Springer was leading the Wreckers into an investigation of the [[Tagan Heights]] Industrial Quadrant East, but they were discovered by [[Ratbat (G1)|Ratbat]], who unleashed [[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]] upon them. Springer, alongside his fellow Wreckers, attacked the Ultracon Combiner but he ended up tangled in cabling. This gave Ratbat the chance to gloat at Springer. Once news of Devastator aligning with the [[Ultracon]]s reached [[Hot Spot (G1)|Hot Spot]] and the [[Protectobot (G1)|Protectobots]], they moved in to aid the Wreckers, combining into [[Defensor (G1)|Defensor]] and battling Devastator. {{storylink|Escalation}}

Freed in the confusion, Springer leaped at Ratbat, screaming at the Ultracon leader for violating the [[Crisis Intervention Accord]]. Ratbat mocked Springer's newfound concern for treaties, pointing out how the Wreckers themselves only abided by them whenever it suited their needs. Changing tactics, Springer approached Defensor, trying to talk him down after Devastator seemed defeated. Unfortunately, Devastator wasn't quite down for the count, and when he began swatting at Springer, the Autobot suddenly found that Defensor was nowhere to be seen. But the individual Protectobots hadn't abandoned Springer after disengaging from their combined modes; they simply had decided to fight smarter. Plugging Devastator into the Tagan Heights' power grid, they managed to overload and defeat the brute. Though Springer was electrocuted as well, First Aid tended to his injuries, and assured him he would make a full recovery. {{storylink|Devastation}}

{{note|Due to [[Dreamwave Productions|Dreamwave]]'s closure, the end of its''War Within'' series was never published. Years later, [[Simon Furman]] released the unpublished scripts to the final three issues. The following would have taken place in said issues:
After Megatron took over Cybertron, Springer was enslaved and put to work in a labor camp. While working, fellow prisoner Ultra Magnus revealed to Springer that he planned to destroy Cybetron's core if no other means presented itself to keep it out of Megatron's hands. {{storylink|The Age of Wrath Pt.4}} It didn't come to this as Grimlock, recently returned from the dead, was able to distract Megatron long enough for Blaster to free Springer and the other enslaved Autobots. {{storylink|The Age of Wrath Pt.5}}}}

[[File:DW Countdown to Extinction Springer.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1]]
Millions of years later, after the [[Great Shutdown]], [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]] had managed to "unite" Cybertron uner his totalitarian rule. Springer became part of an underground resistance, waging a guerilla war against Shockwave's government. Together with Hot Rod and Blurr, Springer spotted a Decepticon shuttle emerging from [[transwarp]] over the [[Wastelands]] of Cybertron. Unknown to the trio, the shuttle actually contained allies in the fight against Shockwave; the Dinobots! {{storylink|Cold War (issue)|Cold War}} These new arrivals sowed so much destruction in their wake that Shockwave was forced to activate the [[Guardian robot]]s to stop them. Upon learning this, Springer reported back to his resistance cell, recently joined by Optimus Prime, that the situation in [[Iacon (polity)|Iacon]] had become worse, with martial law having been imposed. {{storylink|Passive Aggression}} The rebels were thus forced to make their final stand against Shockwave immediately. Springer joined Ironhide and Hot Rod on the front lines during the advance, providing Optimus with the cover he needed to breach Shockwave's inner sanctum. Whilst fighting the Guardian robots outside of Shockwave's fortress, Springer saw the Matrix fire a beam of light towards an [[Unicron|unknown entity]]. {{storylink|countdown to Extinction (issue)|Countdown to Extinction}}

Afterwards, Springer was part of the Autobot council that reestablished a connection to their forces on Earth. {{storylink|Generation 1 issue 0|Generation 1 #0}}

Later still, whilst Hot Rod and Kup were training, Springer took the opportunity to hang out with Arcee on Landing Platform A as they observed Prowl and his group of Autobots heading back to Earth. {{storylink|Lost and Found (issue)|Lost and Found}} He attended Ultra Magnus's mission assignment meeting later at Autobase, with Arcee still at his side. This, and the fact that Springer was assigned his own team, served to remind Hot Rod just how much standing he had lost since Shockwave's reign had been overthrown. {{storylink|The Route of All Evil}}
{{note|As noted above, Dreamwave filed for bankruptcy and stopped producing ''Transformers'' at this point. A few details of [[Unreleased Dreamwave issues#Generation One|Generation One #11]] are known because [[Don Figueroa]] published the line-art of the comic up to page 9 on his DeviantArt account.}}
After an amusing conversation took place between Kup and [[Sludge (G1)|Sludge]], the two of them, along with Arcee, Snarl, and Slag, joined Springer, Grimlock, and Swoop on their shuttle's bridge. Together, they all saw an approaching Quintesson ship. {{storylink|Unreleased Dreamwave issues#Issue 11|Generation 1 #11}}
{{-}}

===The Beast Within===
Springer sustained heavy damage during a savage battle against the Decepticons. Though he pleaded Grimlock to come to his aid, Megatron got to him first, and unceremoniously crushed Springer’s head underfoot. {{storylink|The Beast Within}}

Then his head became un-crushed somehow, and Springer became un-killed. Springer’s wounded body lay safely inside Jetfire’s passenger compartment as the latter managed to rescue the few remaining Autobot troops. {{storylink|The Beast Within Part 2, Consequences}}
{{-}}

===''G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers''===
[[File:ArtofWar3 Sandstorm Springer.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|Get to the Choppah!]]
Springer accompanied [[Sandstorm (G1)|Sandstorm]] in searching for a missing team of Autobots and [[G.I. Joe (team)|G.I. Joes]]. However, their radars were jammed by [[Serpentor|Serpent O.R.]], so their search was fruitless. {{storylink|The Art of War issue 3|The Art of War #3}}
{{-}}

===IDW Generation 1 continuity===
{{ongoing}}
[[File:SoTW-Ostaros.jpg|thumb|left|200px|"Would you risk your life for your fellow man, even if he was a synth?"]]

During the [[Great War (G1)|Great War]], [[Tarantulas (BW)|Mesothulas]] succeeded in creating '''Ostaros''', an artificial Cybertronian powered by an artificial [[spark]] and maintained by a synthesized copy of the [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix]]'s energy field, making him indistinguishable from the genuine article. At some point, Mesothulas's partner [[Prowl (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Prowl]] had a crisis of conscience as their collaborative efforts grew increasingly depraved. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 5|Sins of the Wreckers #3}} [[Impactor (G1)|Impactor]] was sent to take care of the scientist and his inventions; after hurling Ostaros's creator into the [[Noisemaze]], Impactor came across the robot and refused to kill him. Prowl was also incapable of pulling the trigger himself and so Ostaros was recruited into the Autobots as "Springer", never knowing the truth of his origin. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 5|Sins of the Wreckers #5}}

[[File:Autocracy10-Springer.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66]]

During the rule of [[Zeta Prime]], Springer was a member of [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ultra Magnus]]'s security force. Once they learned that Zeta was draining civilians of their [[energon]], they turned on him and helped [[Optimus Prime (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Orion Pax]] and the [[Decepticon]]s overthrow him. {{storylink|Overthrown}} The Decepticons then betrayed the Autobots and imprisoned them, but Springer managed to get his hands on a gun, break out together with his cellmates, and join some other escapees in the search for Orion Pax. Once they found him, they were shocked to learn that he had acquired the [[Matrix of Leadership]] and become Optimus Prime. {{storylink|Rise}} Alongside many other Autobots, Springer rallied behind the new Prime and helped chase the Decepticons out of [[Iacon (polity)|Iacon]]. {{storylink|Endgame}}

Springer acted as a security guard at [[Starsreach Spaceport]] during the [[Exodus (G1)|mass exodus]] of neutrals in the early days of the war. {{storylink|Massacre}} He later aided in defending [[Iacon (polity)|Iacon]] against a Decepticon attack, ruthlessly killing invaders alongside Sandstorm. {{storylink|Primacy issue 4|Primacy #4}} Some time later, he participated in a battle that the Autobots couldn't win. [[Ironhide (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ironhide]] suggested they counter-attack from the west, but the young Autobot leader realized that it was a trap,and advocated falling back to [[Polyhex]]. Optimus was proven right when Springer, acting as aerial support, spotted [[Trypticon (G1)|Trypticon]] arriving to the west. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 13|Old Ways}}

Early in the war, Springer had a simple view of the war: the Autobots were the good guys, the Decepticons were the bad guys, and the [[Autobot Code]] was a way of life. Years of fighting changed him, however, as he stopped seeing everything in black and white and realized being a decent 'bot was only holding him back. After witnessing [[Wrecker]] leader [[Impactor (G1)|Impactor]] single-handedly bring down a Decepticon shuttle, he was inspired to sign up as a Wrecker reservist. Later, as he was working with the [[Heliobot]]s in the [[Toxic Sludge Swamps]], Impactor approached him in the midst of battle to recruit him. {{storylink|Zero Point}} {{storylink|Dead Men's Boots}}

A member of the Wreckers' 17th lineup, Springer became Impactor's first officer and began seeing him as an older brother. However, as the war grew more violent and dirty, so did the Wreckers, and they began breaking more and more rules of war. Springer convinced himself that it wasn't his problem if he wasn't the one doing it, but as time went on he became desensitized and began intervening less and less. Unlike the others, Springer's moral compass required him to have an ''excuse'' for killing Decepticons, so before the final showdown with the Wreckers' Decepticons counterparts [[Squadron X]], he had to pump himself up by telling stories of all the crimes they had committed. The other Wreckers thought this only served to make Impactor even more unstable than he already was. {{storylink|Zero Point}}

[[File:LastStandoftheWreckers5 Springer arrives too late.jpg|left|upright=1.4|thumb|You monster! THEY WERE FANWANK!!!]]
The Wreckers' rivalry with Squadron X came to an end on the planet [[Pova]], where they found themselves in a bad way after Springer was trapped under some collapsed rubble. Despite Springer's pleas, Impactor used his own body as a shield against Squadron X's advancing troops, firing through it. This helped turn the tide, and the Wreckers rounded up all of Squadron X for transport offworld. Unfortunately, Impactor snapped when [[Prowl (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Prowl]] told him that Pova was neutral territory, and that he was ordered to set them free or else the Autobots would face diplomatic repercussions. Impactor locked himself in their ship, and as Springer tried to break through the door, personally executed every member of Squadron X while they were restrained. {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 5|Last Stand of the Wreckers #5}}

Horrified by Impactor's actions, Springer reported him to [[Autobot High Command]] as soon as he got the chance. Before the trial took place, Springer was visited by the other Wreckers, each believing they were alone in approaching him. They all pleaded with him that they hadn't seen Impactor's murders coming and were worried that High Command might shut down the Wreckers because of them. Springer promised to testify that they had nothing to do with it and to become their new leader once everything was over. {{storylink|Zero Point}}

Springer testified against Impactor through [[Aequitas]], and the disgraced Wreckers leader was sentenced to be imprisoned on [[Garrus-9]]. A cover story for what happened on Pova was released which involved Springer suggesting Impactor fire through his torso and Squadron X later escaping their restraints, necessitating their execution. {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 4|Last Stand of the Wreckers #4}} As Impactor was dragged to his cell, Springer told his former commander something he didn't want to hear, something he would dwell upon for the length of his incarceration: Squadron X deserved to die for their crimes, but Impactor didn't have the right to kill them. {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 5|Last Stand of the Wreckers #5}}

At some point during the war, Springer fought alongside Ultra Magnus, Perceptor and Wheelie. Unfortunately, like most other bots, he had a tendency to overlook Wheelie, due to the latter's small stature. {{storylink|Spotlight: Wheelie}} He and the Wreckers also fought (and horribly murdered) most of [[Krok (G1)|Krok]]'s squad during one encounter in the war. {{storylink|Animals}}

[[File:Stormbringer2 Springer.jpg|upright=1.95|thumb|The Wreckers don't half go on about that, do they?]]
Years later on the planet [[Varas Centralus]], Springer, now commander of the Wreckers, was coordinating the counter-offensive against a [[Phase Sixer|Phase Six]] [[infiltration protocol|Decepticon siege bunker]] when he got the call from Optimus Prime that [[Thunderwing (G1)|Thunderwing]] might be active again on Cybertron. Pulling the Wreckers out of Varas Centralus, Springer was of the opinion that if Thunderwing was still alive, they should nuke Cybertron and take the monster with it. {{storylink|Stormbringer issue 2|Stormbringer #2}} After [[Nosecone (G1)|Nosecone]] and [[Afterburner (G1)|Afterburner]] were rescued, the Wreckers prepared to breach [[Bludgeon (G1)|Bludgeon]]'s cultist lair at [[Thunderhead Pass]]. Springer tried to dissuade Optimus Prime from joining the battle, but the Autobot leader was not to be deterred. After routing the cultists, a new problem arose: Thunderwing, sent off to wreak havoc on [[Nebulos]], was returning. {{storylink|Stormbringer issue 3|Stormbringer #3}} The Wreckers gave it their all against Thunderwing, but were seriously outmatched, with Springer's rotors being destroyed by the monstrous titan. As Thunderwing bore down on him, unexpected help came from the Decepticon battleship ''[[Thanatos]]'', and the combined efforts managed to stagger the giant, forcing it to draw more [[Ore-13|Ultra-Energon]] from the environment, whose side effects eventually forced it to shut down. {{storylink|Stormbringer issue 4|Stormbringer #4}}

Shortly after coming to Earth, Optimus Prime was getting updates from the various unit commanders and officers out in the universe while aboard the ''[[Ark-19]]'', amongst them Springer. {{storylink|Escalation issue 1|Escalation #1}} {{storylink|Spotlight: Optimus Prime}}

[[File:SpotlightKup Springersholograph.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Ebeneezer Kup!]]
Not long thereafter, Springer excused himself from actively leading the Wreckers when he heard his old mentor Kup had finally been found, after being MIA for some time. Rescue conditions were hardly ideal, however: [[Tsiehshi|the planet]] the old warhorse was stuck on was permeated with [[Ore-8|highly unstable energy crystals]] which produced massive amounts of debilitating radiation and a single spark might set off an explosive chain reaction that would destroy the planet. Kup, meanwhile, had somehow survived exposure to this environment, yet had gone over the brink of madness, attacking the Autobot teams that beamed down to retrieve him because their thick radiation armors made them appear monstrous to his eyes. Despite these complications, Springer insisted rescue efforts continue, even after many Autobots were destroyed in the attempt. Finally, [[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] arrived as a defensive specialist, and used his force field to block the radiation and get Kup to recognize him. Kup was brought in for repairs, and Springer returned to the Wreckers. {{storylink|Spotlight: Kup}}

Later, Springer, along with Autobots across the galaxy, watched an Autobot news report heralding the miraculous return of [[Blaster (G1)|Blaster]]. {{storylink|Spotlight: Blaster}}

When the denizens of the [[Dead Universe]] stepped up their plans to merge the living and unliving universes together, Springer and the Wreckers were called in once again to battle Thunderwing when he was found guarding a cave on planet [[Corata-Vaz]]. {{storylink|Spotlight: Hardhead}} They didn't have much luck. {{storylink|Spotlight: Doubledealer}} However, once [[Jetfire (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Jetfire]] managed to take control of Thunderwing, Springer and the Wreckers snuck past it and into the cave to retrieve one of the [[Nega-Core]]s, which were crucial to the Dead Universe plans. Unfortunately, as they were doing so, [[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]] regained control of Thunderwing, and the Wreckers were forced to hold the line until the Nega-Core could be removed and deposited back into the Dead Universe via a portable [[space bridge]]. {{storylink|Spotlight: Sideswipe}}

[[File:AHM15 SpringerpunchesProwl.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Why should [[Ironhide (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ironhide]] get [[All Hail Megatron issue 4|all the fun?]]]]
Springer was making regular trips to the ''[[Ark-17]]'' to check up on Kup, but one day found that the old warrior had been transferred to the [[Kimia Facility]] without his knowledge. Filled with rage, Springer traveled to the facility and delivered an uppercut to [[Prowl (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Prowl]]'s chin, only to learn that Kup had been fully repaired using [[Pretender]] technology. While he was skeptical at first, Springer's spirits were soon lifted when he got to meet the rejuvenated Kup. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 15|Everything in Its Right Place}}

Led by Kup, Springer later helped rescue a number of Wreckers who had been captured by the Decepticon [[Turmoil]]. Following this mission, Springer and his fellow Wrecker [[Roadbuster (G1)|Roadbuster]] joined Kup's personal strike force on board the starship ''[[Trion]]''. He argued against letting [[Drift (G1)|Drift]] into the team, but Kup felt that everyone deserves a second chance. {{storylink|Spotlight: Drift}} Shortly afterwards, the team caught a distress call from [[Hot Rod/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Hot Rod]], who was being chased by Decepticons. Kup's team went to his aid, but unfortunately their opponent was the abominable [[Monstructor (G1)|Monstructor]], who melted Springer's rotor blades with acid. Eventually, the giant was toppled by [[Perceptor (G1)|Perceptor]]'s new sniping skills. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 15|Lost & Found}}

While chasing the Decepticon cruiser ''[[Torment]]'', the ''Trion'' was lured into a trap and shot down above the planet Cybertron. The crew was "bonded" with the ship at the time, and Springer refused to disconnect from the doomed vessel as he attempted to steer it into a crash landing. He succeeded, and later met with another Autobot unit that had also ended up on the abandoned planet. Kup's team decided to show the others how badass they were, a showcase which ended with Springer being wrestled to the floor by [[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]] and his weapon being used to hold Kup at gunpoint. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 5|All Hail Megatron #5}} After this little show of force, the two groups teamed up to fight off the [[Insecticon swarm]] that was inhabiting the planet along with them. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 6|All Hail Megatron #6}}

[[File:LastStandoftheWreckers1 Springer introduction.jpg|left|upright=1.4|thumb|''Lookin' back on the track, for a little green bag...'']]
When the Autobots relocated to another base, Springer participated in the caravan in his ground vehicle mode. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 7|All Hail Megatron #7}} At the new base, Springer helped set up a large defensive cannon to use against the incoming swarm. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 9|All Hail Megatron #9}} Despite Springer's best use of fisticuffs, the Autobots were overrun by the thousands of Insecticons, and only saved by the intervention of [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]]. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 10|All Hail Megatron #10}} Omega took everyone to [[New York City]] on [[Earth]], where Megatron and his forces were located. During the great battle, Springer shoved his knee hard in [[Viewfinder]]'s abdomen. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 11|All Hail Megatron #11}}

Springer had medics at key facilities look out for messages from [[Dominus Ambus|Agent 113]], a spy in the [[Decepticon Justice Division]] with a unique way of sending reports. One of these medics was [[First Aid (G1)|First Aid]], who contacted him when Agent 113 reported the Decepticon occupation of Garrus-9. {{storylink|Bullets}} After Megatron's defeat on Earth and the general collapse of the Decepticon war effort, Prowl formulated a desperate plan to use the Wreckers to retake Garrus-9 from the Decepticons and retrieve the potentially damaging war criminal trial data from supercomputer Aequitas. Springer began recruiting new members into the Wreckers, noting with irony that he had now assumed Impactor's role, though the main difference was Springer offered the potential recruits a choice, and sometimes they said no. {{storylink|Dead Men's Boots}}

On Ultra Magnus's ship Springer introduced himself to the new team members: [[Rotorstorm (G1)|Rotorstorm]], [[Ironfist (G1)|Ironfist]], [[Pyro (G1)|Pyro]], and [[Guzzle (G1)|Guzzle]]. He told them that their first mission was to clean up [[Garrus-9]] and warned them that their first day as a Wrecker could be their last. When Ironfist fainted, Springer felt he needed to keep an eye on him. Afterward he spoke with [[Kup (G1)|Kup]] and shared thoughts about Impactor until Ultra Magnus called for him to return to the bridge. He arrived just in time to see a Decepticon starship explode, revealing the former Wrecker. {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 1|Last Stand of the Wreckers #1}}

[[File:LastStandoftheWreckers2 SpringerImpactorReunion.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|Reunited and it feeeels so bad!]]
Once Impactor was aboard, Springer asked him how he got out of Garrus-9. After hearing Impactor's tale of escape and the revelation that infamous [[Overlord (Masterforce)|Overlord]] was now the death camp warden, Springer felt that the mission was finally getting interesting. He then shared words with Impactor about the incident on [[Pova]]. Impactor stormed out, but Springer still felt it would be a good idea to use him on the team. Ultra Magnus then relayed something that Prowl wanted done, but only revealed the name: Aequitas.

While nearing Garrus-9 orbit, Springer assisted Ultra Magnus with the mission briefing. He outlined the mission, dividing them into two teams to penetrate the [[lattice forcefield]] via [[drop pod]]s. He took control of one of the pods before relaying control over to Rotorstorm for a simultaneous hit against the forcefield. Once through the pod came under instant attack, but Springer managed a crash landing. {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 2|Last Stand of the Wreckers #2}}

Upon planetfall, Springer's team ran from an oncoming horde of Decepticons. He took a look at [[Twin Twist]]'s wounds while Guzzle, Kup, and Impactor held off the Decepticons. Springer ordered Guzzle into tank mode to bring down the ceiling, granting them an moment's reprieve. He then sent Kup and Guzzle to get backup while Twin Twist drilled through the floor. He drilled into an open area, but was saved by Springer, who jumped through and quickly transformed into helicopter mode. On the ground they found the demolished remains of [[Kick-Off (G1)|Kick-Off]], but Twin Twist warned them that they had just set off a defense mechanism. Springer attempted to escape but was zapped unconscious, ending up in [[Stalker (G1)|Stalker]]'s Spark Extinction Chamber. {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 3|Last Stand of the Wreckers #3}}

[[File:LastStandoftheWreckers4 faceshot.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1||Right in the kissah!]]
Springer came to after a torturing round from Stalker and began arguing with Impactor about the events that led to the former Wrecker commander to be imprisoned on Garrus-9. Springer expressed the desire to forgive Impactor and himself for what happened on Pova, but this couldn't happen until Impactor admitted that what he did was wrong. They were interrupted by the return of Stalker, who had retrieved his latest instrument of torture, the [[endoscopic claw]]. After Twin Twist died as a result of [[Topspin (G1)|Topspin]]'s sacrifice to activate Aequitas, Stalker was about to move onto the others when help arrived in the form of Guzzle, Kup and [[Snare]]. Kup sprang Springer, who brought a quick end to Stalker with the torturer's own endoscopic claw. This respite didn't last long, as [[Overlord (Masterforce)|Overlord]] blasted through the wall having been radioed by Stalker. The large Decepticon simply asked if the Wreckers were ready, with Springer replying affirmative. {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 4|Last Stand of the Wreckers #4}}

[[File:LastStandoftheWreckers SpringerOverlordFaceoff.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Give me your- [[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Oh, you know.]]]]
The battle with Overlord took the combatants to Garrus-9's roof, but it soon became apparent that Springer's team were fighting a losing battle. After Impactor was seemingly defeated, Ironfist, Perceptor and Verity arrived with a large rotary cannon for Springer to use that would supposedly turn the tide. The Wreckers commander emptied the massive weapon into Overlord, who at merely seemed annoyed at the attack, knocked the weapon away and tore Springer's face off. As he advanced on Ironfist, the diminutive Autobot detonated the payload of [[deterrence chip]]s that the Springer had fired into Overlord, and Verity broke his will by revealing that Megatron had since died, robbing the insane Overlord of his obsessive desire to face the Decepticon leader in combat. After Impactor disabled Overlord, he refused to kill him, stating that it was not what Springer wanted. With G-9's liberation, Ultra Magnus took the survivors back to [[Earth]], where Springer was still alive but on life-support, with Kup by his bedside. {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 5|Last Stand of the Wreckers #5}}

Though his body was repaired, Springer was left in a coma due to a [[zero point]], an affliction that kept his [[spark]] from moving through his body. After the liberation of Garrus-9, the comatose Springer was transferred to ''[[Debris]]'', where he was left under the care of Roadbuster and Whirl. {{storylink|Zero Point}} Convinced their leader would never wake up, Whirl attempted to euthanize him using Roadbuster's [[Sparkeater (weapon)|Sparkeater weapon]], but was caught in the act by Roadbuster and punished. {{storylink|Interiors}} At [[Rung (G1)|Rung]]'s suggestion, Roadbuster began reading the ''[[Wreckers: Declassified]]'' datalogs to Springer in hopes that an emotional response might cause his subconscious to bypass the zero point. When he came to the complete lie of a datalog detailing Pova, Roadbuster gave up and chose to tell Springer the truth: the Wreckers had been ''glad'' to see Impactor kill Squadron X, and they had only asked Springer to lead them because they didn't want to be thrown in prison alongside him. Just as he went on to admit that Springer had still proven to be their greatest leader, Springer began showing signs of life again. {{storylink|Zero Point}}

[[Chromedome (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Chromedome]] would later edit Overlord's memories of his battle with Springer and the Wreckers in order to embed a [[Trepan's Trigger]] in his head. {{storylink|Remembrance Day}} Footage of Springer saying "keep going without me" was used by [[Rewind (G1)|Rewind]] in his stitched-together final message to Chromedome. {{storylink|The Gloaming}}

[[File:SinsoftheWreckers Springer flashbacks.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|left]]
After more than four years in his comatose state, even Impactor began believing it would be better if they let Springer go. Fate, however, seemed to have other ideas, as Kup and [[Arcee (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Arcee]] set off an automatic recording of Prowl's, who recent actions had led to his disappearance, requesting Springer for the task of finding and rescuing him. As a result, Kup called Springer with a message imploring that he wake up. Kup's words seemed to be what was needed to reawaken the comatose Wrecker, who immediately organised the inhabitants of Debris into journeying to Earth and arriving in time to disrupt Arcee's interrogation of Verity. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 1|Sins of the Wreckers #1}} Things started to fall to bits quickly, not helped by Springer still being disoriented from the coma and haunted by dreams of Garrus-9, and the Wreckers being a big mess. While Springer suspected Decepticons, unclear of how much had changed in four years, they soon learned it was [[Tarantulas (BW)|Mesothulas]]. To Springer's horror, they learned it when Kup began ''talking in Prowl's voice'' as the strategist had installed a backdoor in his brain years ago and could remotely hack him; afterwards, Springer had to comfort his friend who was now aware of what he'd done when mad.

[[File:SinsoftheWreckers3-Noisemaze.jpg|thumb|upright=1.6]]
Battle was soon joined with [[Mayhem Attack Squad|Mayhem]], anarchist cross-factional [[Beast Wars|beast-formers]] who'd teamed up with Mesothulas to capture Prowl. Springer was shot out of the sky by [[Carnivac (G1)|Carnivac]], who pitched that the Wrecker should ''join'' them. The Autobot kept fighting anyway and the Wreckers tracked down and boarded the Mayhem's [[Tidal Wave (G1)|living, mobile aquabase]]... where Springer was aghast to see Roadbuster, the very bot who'd read to him for years, torturing a helpless captive. Roadbuster told him that he could be those two things. The brutalised [[Claw Jaw]] led Springer's team to the [[Noisemaze]] where Prowl was... {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 2|Sins of the Wreckers #2}} and they immediately collapsed in pain, unable to handle the sensory overload. Tarantulas ''née'' Mesothulas soon had Springer, Roadbuster, and Arcee strapped in to Aequitas's sister computer [[Impetus]], a guilt ''extractor'' that was forcing them to confess their worst sins: Springer lamented failing Squadron X and sending so many to die rescuing Kup. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 3|Sins of the Wreckers #3}}
{{charstubfiction|{{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 4|Sins of the Wreckers #4}} {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 5|Sins of the Wreckers #5}}}}
{{-}}

===''Transformers vs. G.I. Joe''===
{{charstubfiction|{{storylink|Escape from Primus}} {{storylink|The War Never Ends}}}}

===IDW ''Beast Wars'' comics===
Springer was a participant in the Great War up until its very end in [[2035]]. After both [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]] and [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]] fell in battle, the [[Primal Council]] had Springer marshal their forces in anticipation for the Decepticons' next attack. {{storylink|Dawn of the Predacus}}

==Commercial appearances==
[[File:SpringerWreckGarCommercial1.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4]]
*Springer's shuttle was shot down by the [[Revenge (G1)|Revenge]] over the planet [[Junkion (planet)|Junkion]], where he was forced to do battle with an aggressive [[Wreck-Gar (G1)|Wreck-Gar]] and another [[Junkion (species)|Junkion]]. Prime described Springer as "the toughest of the Autobot [[Triple Changer]]s". {{storylink|Commercial/Generation 1#Springer and Wreck-Gar|Springer and Wreck-Gar commercial}}
*Springer grappled with [[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave]] during a vicious battle between Autobots and Decepticons on Cybertron. While some fought, others left Cybertron behind to expand the Transformers' war to the planet [[Nebulos]]. {{storylink|Commercial/Generation 1#Headmaster comic book|Headmaster comic book commercial}}
*Springer was part of a massive battle between Kreons. He managed to knock over [[Ripclaw (Kre-O)|Ripclaw]] with his sword, taunting that he would "catch him on the flip-side." He continued to make good work of his swordsmanship skills against the Decepticons until [[Predaking (G1)|Predaking]] and [[Bruticus (G1)|Bruticus]] joined the fight, forcing the Autobots to flee. Ripclaw got his revenge later, using his fire-breath to torch Springer's behind. {{storylink|Commercial#Kre-O|KRE-O Transformers Micro Changers and Combiners Construction Sets commercial}}

{{--}}

==Games==
===The Transformers (PS2)===
{{voiceactor|[[Phil Gibbon]] (English)}}
When [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]] threatened the universe using [[Zel Quartz]] in 2010, Springer was one of the Autobots warriors who travelled back in time to 2003 to prevent Zel Quartz from ever being cultivated for use by Cybertronians. Separated from the rest of his team in the crash, he rejoined the present and future Autobots in their campaign after the first false lead for the quartz on [[Zel Samine]]. {{storylink|The Transformers (PS2)|The Transformers}}

===''Transformers Legends''===
As Wreckers, Springer and [[Roadbuster (G1)|Roadbuster]] were sent to prevent [[Bludgeon (G1)|Bludgeon]] and [[Darkwing]] from reviving [[Thunderwing (G1)|Thunderwing]]. They failed, and were forced to help the two Decepticons defeat Thunderwing. {{storylink|Stormbringer (Legends)|Stormbringer}}

When [[Ultra Magnus (G1)|Ultra Magnus]], [[Kup (G1)|Kup]], and [[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike]] were abducted by [[Skuxxoid]]s during the [[Galactic Olympics|Galactic Games]], [[Arcee (G1)|Arcee]] and Springer gave chase. Instead of finding the Skuxxoids, they caught up with [[Hot Rod|Rodimus Prime]], just as their leader was having a vision that the [[Quintesson]]s were behind the kidnapping. {{storylink|Five Faces of Darkness: Part 1}} Arcee, Rodimus, Ultra Magnus and Springer were trapped in human bodies by [[Victor Drath]] and [[Cobra Commander|Old Snake]], but still managed to foil the pair's plan to destroy Autobot City. They were later successfully returned to their robot bodies. {{storylink|Only Human (Legends)|Only Human}}

===''Transformers: Battle Tactics''===
[[File:BattleTacticsSpringer.jpg|thumb|right|400px|I've got better things to do!]]
[[File:Battle-Tactics-Springer-(Gen).jpg|thumb|right|400px|And all the Triple Changer Springers were thrown away. Especially if you've got ten of them.]]
Springer participated in battles against a variety of opponents, both Autobots and Decepticons. Sometimes there were many of him! He appeared in two different bodies:
*''Springer'' — This Super Rare character could be recruited by collecting 275 units of Cybermetal, 85 units of Transmetal, 55 hunter cores, and 5 cores of this character.
*''Springer (Gen)'' — This Epic character was available as a reward to 100 leagues in the "Transform and Roll Out!" event.
{{storylink|Transformers: Battle Tactics}}
{{-}}

===''Transformers: Frontiers''===
{{charstubgame|{{storylink|Transformers: Frontiers}}}}

==Toys==
{{main|Springer (G1)/toys}}

==Notes==
*Like all of the new characters created for ''The Transformers: The Movie'', Springer has an earlier, alternate [[character model]] that served as the basis for his toy, and which was used for his appearances in the Marvel comic. In terms of animation, Springer's early design appears in "[[Only Human]]", used for the duration of the episode.
*Springer's name comes from his ability to jump well. As you'd expect from someone who has a flying altmode, it's not an ability he uses much.
*Ostara (known better as [[w:Ēostre|Ēostre]]) is a Germanic goddess of, among other things, ''spring''.

===Foreign names===
*''Japanese:'' '''Sprang''' or '''Sprung''' (スプラング ''Supurangu''), '''Springer''' (スプリンガー ''Supringā'')
*''Mandarin:'' '''Tán Huáng''' (China 弹簧 "Springs"), '''Bǎi Zhàng Tiào''' (China 百丈跳 "Thousand-feet jump")
*''French:'' '''Ricochet''' (Canada)
*''Hungarian:'' '''Szökkenő''' ("Springer")
*''Italian:'' '''Bora'''
*''Russian:'' '''Sprinter''' (Спринтер)

[[Category:Beast Machines Autobots]]
[[Category:Classics Autobots]]
[[Category:Defense specialists]]
[[Category:Dreamwave Generation 1 Autobots]]
[[Category:Generation 1 Autobots]]
[[Category:Generation 2 Autobots]]
[[Category:IDW Generation 1 Autobots]]
[[Category:Kre-O Autobots]]
[[Category:Kreons]]
[[Category:Legends Autobots]]
[[Category:Regeneration One Autobots]]
[[Category:Security officers]]
[[Category:The Headmasters Autobots]]
[[Category:Triple Changers]]
[[Category:Universe Transformers]]
[[Category:Wings Universe Autobots]]
[[Category:Wreckers]]

Deathsaurus (G1)

2017-04-26T00:54:29Z

7Crimsonified7: /* Generations */

{{factions|decepticon}}
{{featured}}
{{disambig3|Deathsaurus}}
:''Deathsaurus is a [[Decepticon]] from the [[Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers: Victory (franchise)|Victory portion]] of the [[Generation 1 continuity family]].''

[[File:Deathsaurus1.jpg|325px|thumb|Spell it right or you're kickbanned, buster.]]

'''Deathsaurus''' (デスザラス ''Desuzarasu'') began terrorizing the galaxy long before ascending to the position of Decepticon [[Emperor of Destruction]]. For thousands of years, this savage and cruel dictator has spread terror throughout the universe, and has now set his sights upon the Earth as a source of energy to power his terrifying superweapon, the [[Planet-Destroying Fortress]]. And if [[Star Saber (Victory)|Star Saber]] should get in his way, so much the better: Deathsaurus bears the Autobot [[Supreme Commander]] a bitter grudge, and relishes any opportunity to destroy him that presents itself.

Deathsaurus is a [[Breastforce]] warrior, partnered with two transforming chestplates that become the [[Breast Animal]]s [[Tigerbreast]] and [[Eaglebreast]]. He wields a deadly spiked flail, and the [[Living-Metal-Destroying Cannon]], which erodes the living metallic cells of super-robot lifeforms. The bladed wings of his creature mode absorb sunlight, converting it into dark energy, and he can then launch these energized blades at his opponents in an attack known as his "Death Wing". Despite all of these terrifying powers, however, Deathsaurus is a surprisingly "hands off" leader, who is perfectly happy to allow his subordinates to formulate their own plans and schemes to gather energy for him—but if they should fail, he'll always be there to berate and brutalize them. Even when the plans are his own, Deathsaurus is content to watch and command from a distance, rather than dirty his own hands—but he'll rarely waste a chance to engage Star Saber on the battlefield, and if that occurs, woe betide anyone who gets in Deathsaurus's way.

Curiously, Deathsaurus permits himself one distinctive, unusual foible: although he despises most humans, he has a surprising soft spot for children.

Sometimes he is known as '''Dezarus'''. In some universes, he can combine with the ''Destron'' team to form [[Liokaiser]], replacing Leozack & Jallguar.

{{quote|I will not forgive this, Star Saber! I swear! I swear I will crush you with my bare hands! I swear, you worm! With my bare hands!|Deathsaurus tells you all you'll ever need to know about him|"[[Resurrection!? The Decepticon Fortress]]"}}

==Fiction==
===Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity===
====''Super-God Masterforce'' cartoon====
Clips of Deathsaurus were seen when [[Shūta Gō|Shūta]] and [[Grand Maximus]] were talking about the new [[Supreme Commander]] [[Star Saber (Victory)|Star Saber]]. {{storylink |Shūta and Grand's Masterforce Super-Secrets!}}

====''Victory'' cartoon====
{{voiceactor|[[Takeshi Aono]] (Japanese)|[[Rik Thomas]] (English, Omni Productions dub), [[Víctor Mares]] (Latin American Spanish)}}

[[File:Deathsaurus fortress.jpg|left|thumb|225px|By the power of Grayskull!]]

500,000 years ago, striving to become the Decepticons' new Emperor of Destruction, Deathsaurus created a gigantic battle fortress capable of destroying planets, but an attack by the young Autobot commander Star Saber saw the fortress de-powered and trapped in a gravity cell at the heart of the region of space known as [[Dark Nebula]]. This began the enmity between Star Saber and Deathsaurus, and as both combatants rose through the ranks of their respective armies, Deathsaurus vowed to eventually liberate his fortress and use it to destroy Star Saber. {{storylink|Resurrection!? The Decepticon Fortress}}

Some years prior to 2025, after the conclusion of the [[Masterforce War]] on Earth, Deathsaurus succeeded [[Overlord (Masterforce)|Overlord]] as Decepticon leader and achieved his dream of becoming Emperor of Destruction. {{storylink|#Toys|Deathsaurus's ''Victory'' toy bio}} Under his command, the Decepticons began seeking a planet that they could call their own and invaded worlds all across the galaxy. To counteract Deathsaurus's campaign of terror, the Autobots—now with Star Saber serving as their Supreme Commander—and many other sentient races formed the [[Galactic Peace Alliance]], and struck back at the Decepticons with their [[Galactic Peace Alliance|Galactic Defense Force]]. As time passed and this conflict continued, Deathsaurus began focusing his attacks on "Sector One" of the galaxy, containing the planet Earth, until 2025, when the severity and frequency of the attacks forced Star Saber to take command of the Defense Force unit in that area himself. {{storylink|The Brave Hero of the Universe - Star Saber}}

[[File:Deathsaurus starsaber moonbattle.jpg|thumb|225px|Parry on regardless.]]

When Deathsaurus's [[Dinoforce]] attacked the [[Lunar Base (Victory)|Lunar Base]] on Earth's [[Moon (moon)|moon]], Star Saber raced to aid his fellow [[Brainmaster]]s in battle there, only to find his way barred by Deathsaurus. Hoping to distract Star Saber long enough for the Dinoforce to finish their job, Deathsaurus engaged his old foe in battle, but Star Saber broke off the fight as quickly as he could and headed on toward the moon with Deathsaurus hot on his heels. After Star Saber defeated the Dinoforce, Deathsaurus caught up to him and unleashed his Breast Animals upon the Autobot in both beast and weapon forms. Star Saber eventually won out, defeating both the creatures and besting Deathsaurus in a swordfight, forcing the Decepticon leader to summon up his craft, the ''[[Thunder Arrow]],'' and flee aboard it. {{storylink|The Brave Hero of the Universe - Star Saber}}

[[File:Deathsaurus throne.jpg|left|thumb|225px|THRONE'D!]]

Recognizing the Earth as a rich source of energy that he could use to power up his Planet-Destroying Fortress, Deathsaurus centered most of his subsequent attacks on the planet, summoning the Breastforce to aid in the campaign. {{storylink|Sneak Attack! Dinoking}} {{storylink|Attack! Leozack}} {{storylink|Unite!! Multiforce}} Deathsaurus was entirely aware of the fact that the Breastforce's leader [[Leozack]] had designs on leadership of the Decepticons for himself, {{storylink|Move Out! Rescue Team}} but he was amused enough by it to let him slide by, allowing Leozack to believe that he was oblivious to his schemes. Residing on the Thunder Arrow as it hopscotched around the planet and solar system, Deathsaurus was content to watch as his troops staged numerous attacks on Earth. {{storylink|Infiltration... The Uranium Mine}} {{storylink|Explosion!! The Energy Base}}

[[File:Deathsaurus beastmode.jpg|thumb|225px|Not to be confused with the [[w:Robot Chicken|Adult Swim]] show of the same name.]]

Deathsaurus finally decided to join his troops on a mission when the Decepticon began draining electrical energy from an American subway system. While the Breastforce snuck through the subway tunnels, Deathsaurus himself targeted the power distribution center, where he was confronted by Star Saber. The true cunning of Deathsaurus's scheme was revealed when he let loose his Breast Animals, and Star Saber proved no match for the creatures in the small confines of the underground complex. Unfortunately for Deathsaurus, he had overlooked the fact that with both Breast Animals deployed, his own chest was left unprotected, leaving it open to an attack from Star Saber's Saber Blade. Wounded, Deathsaurus recalled his Breast Animals and fled, but not without successfully taking the energy he had managed to steal beforehand. {{storylink|Big City - Underground Terror}}

When the Breastforce were joined by [[Hellbat (Victory)|Hellbat]], the newcomer also adopted designs on the Decepticon throne. {{storylink|The New Warrior - Hellbat}} Deathsaurus was even less concerned with Hellbat's ambitions than he was with Leozack's, though, since the two would-be traitors were always too busy fighting with each other to pose a serious threat to him. In their constant games of one-upmanship, Leozack and Hellbat crafted numerous failed schemes of their own, eventually forcing Deathsaurus to step in and give his minions a mission of his own devising. Deathsaurus had the Decepticons hide in the asteroid belt and capture human shuttlecraft in order to use drain their energy and use them to create an energy alloy. Star Saber soon got wise to the villains' evildoings and arrived to put a stop to them, but again, Deathsaurus successfully escaped with his amassed energy. {{storylink|A Fierce Battle!! The Asteroid}}

[[File:Starsaber living metal destroying cannon.jpg|left|thumb|Say hello to my little friend...]]

While the Breastforce were busy on planet [[Micro]], Deathsaurus and the Dinoforce took the Thunder Arrow into the Dark Nebula, where Deathsaurus emptied his stockpile of energy into his inactive fortress. The giant structure briefly flared back to life, but soon shut down once more; Deathsaurus was unfazed, having only sought to confirm whether or not the fortress could even be reactivated. On the trip back to Earth, the Decepticons crossed paths with Star Saber and the [[Rescue Patrol Team]], and Deathsaurus engaged Star Saber in battle with his Living-Metal-Destroying Cannon. Although Deathsaurus was actually able to pull the trigger on what would have been a fatal blast, he discovered that he had expended too much of his energy supply reactivating his fortress, and his weapons systems shut down before he could end Star Saber's life, necessitating his tactical withdrawal. {{storylink|Resurrection!? The Decepticon Fortress}}

[[File:Deathsaurus vs leozack.jpg|thumb|Tell me, what was the color of Napoleon's White horse?]]

Deathsaurus next clashed with Star Saber in Antarctica, only stepping onto the battlefield after the Breastforce, combined as [[Liokaiser]], had severely weakened Star Saber. Deathsaurus took over the fight, intent on being the one to deliver the final blow, but Star Saber was able to turn the battle around, and forced Deathsaurus into retreat. {{storylink|Fight to the Death!! Antarctic Battle}} In a later battle atop the Thunder Arrow, deep in the desert, Star Saber again humbled Deathsaurus, this time with the aid of [[Greatshot]], but the fight left both the Supreme Commander and [[Blacker]] badly wounded. {{storylink|Crisis! Ambush in the Desert}} Capitalizing on the Autobots' reduced manpower, Deathsaurus stepped up the Decepticons' attacks across the planet, and removed another annoyance by finally calling Leozack out on his treachery. Easily besting the traitorous Breastforcer in combat, Deathsaurus forced him to swear total loyalty to him, or face death. Leozack made the logical choice, and then, combined with his fellow Breastforcers as Liokaiser, joined with his leader in staging an ambush for Star Saber in a subterranean cave in Asia. Disguising himself as a Terracotta Army-esque statue, Deathsaurus was able to get the drop on Star Saber when Liokaiser lured him into the cave, and again unleashed the Living-Metal-Destroying Cannon on his enemy. Once more, Deathsaurus stood poised to kill Star Saber with the weapon, until the last-minute arrival of [[Ginrai (robot)|God Ginrai]], who took the fatal shot. Liokaiser had to persuade the incensed Deathsaurus to retreat as more Autobots arrived, {{storylink|A Deadly Battle}} but the Decepticon leader soon clashed with Star Saber once more in a later battle at a solar power station. Deathsaurus emerged victorious in that fight when Star Saber was forced to flee upon receiving news of Ginrai's deteriorating condition. {{storylink|Ginrai Dies!!}} Ginrai's life was saved, however, when he was rebuilt into the powerful new warror, [[Victory Leo]]. {{storylink|Fight!! Victory Leo}}

Next, Deathsaurus began bombarding the Earth with missiles from an orbital weapons platform, as a means of staying the Autobots' hands while his forces gathered energy across the planet. Star Saber and Victory Leo were able to thwart his plan by combining into the mighty Victory Saber; Deathsaurus's missile launch system had been programmed based on Star Saber's speed, but with the added power of Victory Leo, the Autobot hero was able to outrace the missiles, destroy the launcher and defeat Deathsaurus in an outer space battle. {{storylink|The Tide Is Turned! The Ultimate Weapon, the Victory Unification}}

[[File:Victory37 finalblow.jpg|left|thumb|Who says robots don't bleed?]]

Following an attempt to destroy the Autobots with the metal-eating [[Doriya]] insects, {{storylink|The Death-Bringing Space Insects!!}} Deathsaurus was informed by Hellbat that he had discovered the location of the sunken continent of [[Atlantis]], which could provide the raw energy to reactivate his fortress. Deathsaurus risked all or nothing to obtain Atlantis's energy, using up the Thunder Arrow's entire energy stockpile to raise the continent, but the plan proved a success, as the Autobots were too busy dealing with the devastating tidal waves caused by the rise of Atlantis to stop him from absconding with enough energy to bring his fortress back online. {{storylink|The Terror of the Giant Tidal Waves}} Having no further use for the bumbling Dinoforce, Deathsaurus abandoned them on Earth and headed back to the Dark Nebula with the Breastforce, where he successfully re-energized his fortress and began moving it towards Earth. {{storylink|The Wrath of the Resurrected Giant Fortress!}}

[[File:Victory37 deadsaurus.jpg|thumb|With my last breath, I curse Zoidberg!]]

Intent on learning from the failures of all past Decepticon leaders, Deathsaurus chose not to conquer Earth, but to utterly destroy the planet, eradicting from Decepticon history the humiliating stain of defeat the planet represented. As the fortress rained destruction down upon Earth with meteor bombs, even Victory Saber could not stand up to its power. Soon, however, a resentful Dinoforce supplied information on the fortress's weak spot to Star Saber's adopted human son, [[Jan Minakaze|Jan]], who then used his own [[Illumina II|personal mech]] to enter the fortress and strike at this vulnerability. As he did so, Deathsaurus and Star Saber engaged in a vicious final battle, during which Deathsaurus lost an eye, and was eventually stopped when Star Saber broke his sword off in the villain's chest. Gushing fuel and fluid, Deathsaurus vowed to have the last laugh as he set the crippled fortress on a collision course with Earth and blew himself out an airlock, vowing to return again and again. But, as his body drifted off into space, no sign of life was visible from the conquered emperor. Victory Saber was able to subsequently destroy the fortress before it collided with Earth, but Deathsaurus was not heard from again. {{storylink|Showdown! The Fortress vs the Victory Unification}}
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{{charstubfiction|{{storylink|Attack the Shuttle Base!!}} {{storylink|Tanker Hijack Operation}} {{storylink|Rescue Jan!!}} {{storylink|Unite! Liokaiser}} {{storylink|Battle Up of Wrath!!}} {{storylink|Jan - Defend the Campus!!}} {{storylink|A Mystery?! The Deception of the Base Bombs}}}}

====''Zone'' catalog====
[[File:DarkEmperorDeathsaurusZone01.jpg|thumb|upright=0.85|What is it with Decepticon emperors and their absurd weapons?]]

Through means unknown, Deathsaurus was resurrected as the "[[Emperor of Destruction|Dark Emperor]]" and once again lead the Decepticons in an attack on the Autobots. This time, it was a full-on assault on planet [[Micro|Zone]] in an attempt to seize the Micro Zone's [[Energon Z]]. The [[Micromaster]]s repelled his attack and sent Deathsaurus into retreat. What became of him afterward is unknown. {{storylink|Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers: Zone (story page)#Catalogue story page 1|Zone Project Story}}
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===''Victory'' manga===
[[File:MangaYoungDeathyStarSaber.jpg|left|thumb|225px|"Come back here and help me put some sense in this image!"]]
Deathsaurus and Star Saber's rivalry began 500,000 years ago when they were both children, and according to Star Saber, "argued all the time". {{storylink|The Star of Friendship, Jan and Star Saber!}} In his "adult" years, Deathsaurus took [[Esmeral (Victory)|Esmeral]] as his wife, and in order to keep both her and the families of his fellow Decepticons safe aboard his "Space Stronghold", Deathsaurus began attacking Earth, in order to obtain the planet's energy and use it to keep the stronghold fully powered-up. {{storylink|Heroic! The Victory War}}

During one of his early attacks on Earth, Deathsaurus took pity on an infant human named [[Solon Kitakaze (Victory)|Solon Kitakaze]], whose parents had died in the assault. Deathsaurus "adopted" Solon and turned him into a cyborg, raising him as his own son, just as Star Saber did with the human child Jan Minakaze. As Star Saber and Deathsaurus had been rivals in their youth, so too would Solon and Jan become rivals when, in 2025, Deathsaurus's campaign against Earth intensified.

Deathsaurus and Star Saber's first major battle in this campaign was a brief one, with Deathsaurus being felled by a single swipe of Star Saber's Saber Blade, {{storylink|Magnificent! Our Friend, Star Saber!}} but the Emperor of Destruction had a better showing in their next clash, during which he absorbed enough energy from a forest fire to best Star Saber, Road Caesar and Landcross all together. Deathsaurus's unusual compassion for children proved to be his downfall in this battle when he was distracted by the sight of Solon, gripping Jan in a hold that threatened the boy's life. While Deathsaurus's attention was occupied with striking Solon as punishment, Star Saber blindsided and defeated him with a Super Saber Meteor Spin. {{storylink|Great Turn-Around! Star Saber}}

Deathsaurus later sent Solon to study in school on Earth, in order to learn more about humans, thereby making it easier to conquer them. {{storylink|Leozack Rumbles Violently!}} While Solon was on Earth, he and Jan were approached by former Autobot human allies [[Shūta Gō]] and [[Cab (human)|Cab]], {{storylink|Warrior of Love, Star Saber!}} and with Jan, they formed the "Autobot Boy Team" known as the [[Victories]]. Seeking to counter this group with a team of his own, Deathsaurus had [[Yokuryu]] capture Jan and bring him to the ''Thunder Arrow'', where he attempted to bribe the boy into joining the Decepticons' group with toys, a [[Family Computer|Famicom]], candy and cash. When an enraged Star Saber soon came tearing into the ''Thunder Arrow'', Deathsaurus crossed swords with the Autobot leader, but was then distracted by Jan distracting who exploited the Decepticon's bizarre fear of caterpillars by dangling one in his face. The cowering Deathsaurus was promptly bested in dramatically explosive fashion by Star Saber's "Planetary Impulse Sword" technique, and realised with hindsight that Solon was the only kid he needed. {{storylink|Watch Out, Jan! Hurry, Star Saber!}} Deathsaurus was apparently left so badly injured by this clash that he couldn't participate in the next battle, given that he was only seen lying in bed, coughing, with Solon resting a giant ice-pack on his head. {{storylink|The Star of Friendship, Jan and Star Saber!}}

[[File:Kingsaurus.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|The mighty Kingsaurus. Mighty.]]

Rested and healthy again, Deathsaurus joined with [[Dinoking]] and Liokaiser in going up against Star Saber together, and perhaps not entirely surprisingly, the badly outnumbered Autobot was defeated by the three Decepticons. Before they could deliver the killing stroke, however, Star Saber was saved by the sudden arrival of Victory Leo, with whom he combined to form Victory Saber. The merged pair defeated the trio of Decepticons in one blast of their "Flash Victory" attack. {{storylink|The Strongest Partners, the Combination of Victory!}} Deathsaurus immediately sought out away to combat Star Saber's new power, and developed a Transformer-sized mech for Solon named "King Solon," with which he could combine to form "Kingsaurus". In this new form, Deathsaurus battled Victory Saber on the planet [[Guard]], with neither combatant getting the upper hand in over three hours of fighting. When [[Patty Minakaze]]'s mentioned the word "mother", however, something of Solon's past was stirred in the boy's mind, and he was distracted long enough for Victory Saber to destroy the King Solon mech components with his Victory. The burning Solon tumbled to the ground, where Patty tended his wounds despite his protestations. Perhaps wary of Solon's confused emotional state, Deathsaurus reminded him that while he was a human child, he was a Decepticon's son by fate. {{storylink|Mighty! Victory Saber}}

[[File:Starsaber deathsaurus truce.jpg|left|225px|thumb|"So, we both agree that the childhood friendship thingie made no sense at all?" "Yes! Oh, what a glorious day!"]]

As it turned out, Deathsaurus was right to be wary—in the midst of a later battle with Star Saber and Road Caesar, Solon turned against Deathsaurus and sided with the Victories, opening fire on his "father" and declaring that he would fight to protect the Earth, instead of destroy it. Now with Solon on their side, the Victories were able to channel their power into the Autobots, and the Decepticons were sent fleeing by the "Five Stars of Victory" attack. {{storylink|Shine! The Five Stars of Victory}} Deathsaurus led the Decepticons back to the Space Stronghold and began bombarding the Earth with meteor bombs, prompting the Autobots to attack it. Deathsaurus left the Breastforce to man the fortress while he engaged Star Saber in a final battle in the void of space, but had not reckoned with the treachery of Leozack, who fired on his emperor with the fortress's main cannon. To save himself, Deathsaurus was forced to return fire on the fortress, and Star Saber followed suite, smashing into the fortress's control chamber and taking Leozack down. As Leozack begged the Autobots not to destroy the fortress, the wounded Deathsaurus arrived and revealed to the Autobots the presence of the Decepticons' families aboard the vessel. Realizing that the Decepticons' had only done what they had in the name of their families' safety, Star Saber decided that it was time for the two leaders to follow the example set by their sons and lay down their arms. Deathsaurus and Star Saber shook hands, and the [[Victory War]] came to an end, bringing peace to everyone—the truest victory of all! {{storylink|Heroic! The Victory War}}
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===''Transformers PD Type'' comic===
[[File:PDType Deathsaurus blackball.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4]]
Out of ammo, the Autobots started throwing things at Deathsaurus, including a [[Blackball]]! Gloating, Deathsaurus began to plan his conquest of the galaxy, only to become so annoyed at the rocks bouncing off his head that in frustration he threw the Blackball at the Autobots. {{storylink|Transformers PD Type##4 "Good Job! Deathsaurus!!"|Good Job! Deathsaurus!!}} Right when Star Saber was ready to finish him, Deathsaurus brought in Liokaiser. The two Decepticons were soon hunting for their enemy as he frantically tried to contact Victory Leo. {{storylink|Transformers PD Type##5 "Don't Lose! Star Saber!!"|Don't Lose! Star Saber!!}}

Deathsaurus and [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]] were pounced on by Victory Leo until Megatron was able to distract the lion with a huge ball of yarn, allowing the Decepticons to escape. {{storylink|Transformers PD Type##6 "Tough as Nails! Victory Leo!"|Tough as Nails! Victory Leo!}} After a lengthy mid-air battle with Star Saber, Deathsaurus fell from the sky and ended up with [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]] chewing on his head. {{storylink|Transformers PD Type##8 "Me Strongest! Me Grimlock!"|Me Strongest! Me Grimlock!}}
{{--}}

===Dreamwave ''Generation One'' continuity===
[[File:Deathsaurus dreamwave.jpg|left|thumb|125px|Polish Me!]]
Deathsaurus was an [[Destron (G1)|ancient Transformer]] from Cybertron's lost past. While searching for clues about the planet's history, Megatron stumbled across a hidden chamber beneath the planet's surface containing two massive statues of Deathsaurus and [[Dai Atlas (Zone)|Dai Atlas]], holding a [[Golden Disk (ancient)|golden disk]] between them. This chamber apparently told of a vast Cybertronian Empire that ended prior to recorded history. {{storylink|The Route of All Evil}}
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===Descent into Evil===
[[File:Deathsaurustimelines.jpg|thumb|Deathsaurus orchestrates the rise of a New Decepticon Empire, or NAMBLA.]]

Using a clone lab on [[Ceti Alpha Seven]], Deathsaurus wished to revive the fading [[Decepticon Empire]] with a vast [[Insecticon (G1)|Insecticon]] army. After the first batch of [[Virulent Clone|clones]] was completed, his operation was interrupted by a team of [[Autobot]] commandos under the command of [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]]. Deathsaurus overpowered and captured the first wave himself, and soon faced Ironhide one-on-one, while [[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]] attempted to rescue the fallen Autobots. Due to the assistance of Tripredacus Agent [[Flamewar (G1)|Flamewar]], these two were defeated and captured as well.

They woke up bound inside Deathsaurus's clone lab. The Emperor of Destruction appeared on a television screen, declaring that his use for the lab was completed and was prepared to detonate it remotely with the Autobots inside. Unfortunately for Deathsaurus, the Autobot espionage agent [[Ricochet (Timelines)|Ricochet]] not only freed the Autobots before the explosion occurred, but also seeded the remaining clones with a virus, leaving Deathsaurus with nothing to show for his work. {{storylink|Descent into Evil}}
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===Theft of the Golden Disk===
Years later, towards the end of the Great War, the [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] [[Cryotek (Universe)|Cryotek]] worked under Deathsaurus as a supply manager. When the final defeat of the Decepticons at last came, Cryotek led his fellow Predacon workers in a rebellion against Deathsaurus, and used the materials he stole from his depot to begin his own criminal empire. {{storylink|Transformers Collectors' Club|Cryotek's "Theft of the Golden Disk" profile}}

===''Wings Universe''===
Deathsaurus's origins are unknown, but he quickly rose within the ranks of the Decepticons after the uprisings began. He established himself as one of the fourteen leading [[Decepticon Warlord|Warlord]]s in the Decepticon cause and gathered a small inner circle of followers including [[Falcon (G1)|Falcon]], [[Vanquish (G1)|Vanquish]], and [[Lyzack (Victory)|Lyzack]]. {{storylink|Hasbro Transformers Collectors' Club issue 34|Deathsaurus's profile in Club magazine #34}} He had managed to recuit the latter as his personal servant by promising to aid Lyzack in liberating her [[Leozack|brother]] from the Autobots. {{storylink|Hasbro Transformers Collectors' Club issue 40|Lyzack's profile in Club magazine #40}} Deathsaurus preferred to lead from his throne room, directing others to carry out his strategies from a distance. He accumulated a great deal of ill-gotten wealth from his forces' assaults on high-ranking generals and aristocrats in the Autobot hierarchy, while carrying on his own experiments into the areas of [[Triple Changer|multiple alternate modes]] and [[Combiner|combination technology]]. {{storylink|Hasbro Transformers Collectors' Club issue 34|Deathsaurus's profile in Club magazine #34}}

Following a raid against the Autobot general [[Traachon]], Deathsaurus sat in his throne room enjoying the fruit of his labors, and the finest oil reserves from the good general's private stash. He updated himself on [[Rage (G1)|Rage]]'s final fate at [[Median]] thanks to his deep cover source, [[Flip Sides (G1)|Flip Sides]]. Reviewing the details of the conflict with the [[Cybertron Elite Guard|Elite Guard]], a plan began to form in his diabolical processor regarding the reported victors, the [[Combaticon (G1)|Combaticon]]s. {{storylink|Flames of Yesterday}}

[[File:TheComingStorm4-LordDeathsaurus.jpg|left|thumb|upright=2.2|He wasn't quite sure whether he was hiring [[Leozack]] or [[Lyzack (Victory)|Lyzack]] to serve him drinks.]]

Seeing the possibility of swaying the Combaticons to his cause, Deathsaurus had [[Onslaught (G1)|Onslaught]] and his men captured and brought to his headquarters. In his throne room Deathsaurus wove a complicated web of deceit, half-truths, and temptations to bring the Elite Guardsmen under his control. [[Swindle (G1)|Swindle]] and [[Vortex (G1)|Vortex]] were easy, as their respective greed and love of fine oil was easy to satisfy. To earn their trust, Deathsaurus offered to fix up the Combaticons' armor due to the "mistaken" injuries they suffered at the hands of his soldiers, and he also offered to upgrade them in the process. The lonely [[Blast Off (G1)|Blast Off]] was quick to jump at the idea of having both land and space modes, letting him remain active and useful on the ground. [[Brawl (G1)|Brawl]]'s anger could not be easily cooled, so Deathsaurus merely redirected it, suggesting the Combaticons could not fight properly without the Elite Guard backing them up. After that comment, Brawl was more than willing to fight the Elite Guard to prove he was tougher.

Onslaught was the most difficult to manipulate, and so Deathsaurus appealed to his pride, intimating that Onslaught's strategic skill had waned since his days at the top of [[Omnihelix Academy]]. Instead, Deathsaurus posited that Onslaught could reach his full potential once freed from the shackles of the Elite Guard. By defeating the Guard, the Combaticons could prove they were better than Autobot and Decepticon alike, and become a new symbol of power on post-war Cybertron. Unwilling to appear weak, and lured by the notion of personal power and recognition, Onslaught relented. At this point, the Combaticons were all suitably mollified, ready to follow Deathsaurus's commands while still believing it was ''their'' decision to do so. Deathsaurus sealed the deal with his newly completed combiner technology blueprints, and left Onslaught to plan his attack. {{storylink|The Coming Storm: Part 4}}

As the Combaticons prepared for an attack against their former allies, Deathsaurus turned his attention to other matters. Although he had a seat on the Decepticon War Council, Deathsaurus rarely if ever chose to attend the meetings. Instead, he sent his spokesman, Falcon in his place. With the Council in disarray after the capture of [[Gutcruncher (G1)|Gutcruncher]] and the merger of the [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicon]]s and [[Photon]]s with Megatron's forces, Deathsaurus decided it was time to act. He sent the unwitting Falcon to the council meeting with a bomb and detonated it, killing his faithful lieutenant and five of the remaining Warlords. With one well-timed explosion, Deathsaurus ensured that only he and [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] remained as Decepticon Warlords and rivals for power. Deathsaurus then turned to continue planning with Falcon's replacement, his newly appointed lieutenant and head of the [[Seeker (body-type)|Skyraider-Seeker Brigade]].

His name was [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]]. {{storylink|A Team Effort}}

[[File:BattleLines3-makeyoupay.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|Dude, just use a [[Robo-Smasher]] and spare yourself the effort.]]

Starscream was happy to report to Deathsaurus that the Combaticons, in their new combined form of [[Bruticus (G1)|Bruticus]], had successfully vanquished the Elite Guard, and that the turncoats were on their way back to Deathsaurus' lair. Despite their victory, Starscream chafed at his commander's plan to welcome them into the Decepticons proper. Starscream feared that the Combaticons were not true Decepticons, but instead using their new allegiance to further their own quest for power. Deathsaurus countered that was what made them the perfect Decepticons, and reminded his new lieutenant that ambition is what separates the Decepticons from the stagnation and complacency of the Autobots. Starscream acquiesced and was ordered by Deathsaurus to help Lyzack prepare the medical bay for the arriving Combaticons. {{storylink|Battle Lines, Part 1}}

Deathsaurus observed as the Combaticons were repaired, and ordered Constructicons to concentrate on repairing them to the point that they could form Bruticus at Deathsaurus's will. After Bruticus proved to wild to control and was shut down, Starscream admired Deathsaurus's forethought in adding an override to the Combiner. He also warned the Warlord of an Elite Guard squad approaching their base. Deathsaurus ordered Starscream to call the troops to arms. {{storylink|Battle Lines, Part 2}} He himself took part in the fight, exchanging blows with [[Magnum]] and informing the Autobot that he had done nothing to the Combaticons' minds other than convince them they would be better served by the Decepticon cause. Outraged, Magnum renewed his attack on the self-proclaimed emperor. {{storylink|Battle Lines, Part 3}}

[[File:BattleLines5-istillfunction.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.66|"Did I do... good?" "Look, stop stealing other guys' lines!"]]

The Warlord pointed out mockingly that Magnum's backup appeared to be falling flat, at which point the Autobot blasted him in the chest. Magnum took a battering from Lyzack, and Deathsaurus picked himself up to find Magnum and [[Thunder Clash|Thunderclash]] right where he could finish them off. Unfortunately that was when [[Sprocket (G1)|Sprocket]] jumped on him, demanding a [[zap-pony]] ride, and then shot him in his already damaged chest. Deathsaurus ordered a retreat, however the greatest indignity was still to come, as when he got home, he found his throne had been claimed by Megatron. {{storylink|Battle Lines, Part 4}}

Deathsaurus was chained and led into the gladiatorial arena to face Megatron in a ritual contest to decide leadership of the Decepticons. Deathsaurus bitterly observed that if Megatron wanted this to be a fair fight, he would allow him to first repair the injuries that were dealt by Magnum and Sprocket—but Megatron laughed off the notion that he could ever want a fair fight. Megatron defeated Deathsaurus in melee combat, clawed his face off, then blasted him with his fusion cannon at point-blank range for good measure—emerging as the unquestioned leader of the Decepticons. As the troops rallied around their new leader, Lyzack approached her fallen emperor and found that, despite his tremendous damage, he still functioned. The humbled Deathsaurus said he had no choice but to go into exile, and Lyzack agreed to accompany him. {{storylink|Battle Lines, Part 5}}
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===''Kre-O'' comic===
[[File:KreO-webcomic-5-Deathsaurus.jpg|100px|thumb]]
Deathsaurus was part of a massive Decepticon invasion force intended to ruin the Autobots' picnic. However, [[Optimus Prime (Kre-O)|Optimus Prime]] plowed through them with his truck and left them scattered... and then left. Returning to the scene after.. ''ahem'', taking care of some pressing business, Optimus gathered up the still-wiped-out Kreons, bound them up on a flatbed trailer, and took them to the picnic. {{storylink|Emergency! Hurry to the Base, Optimus!}}
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===IDW Generation 1 continuity===
[[File:PermanentRevolution-Deathsaurus.jpg|thumb|His twisted twin obsessions are global domination and the provision of exceptional pension plans to all employees.]]
Deathsaurus was born a [[Decepticon]] during the [[Great War (G1)|Great War]]. He enjoyed a successful career [[Eco-structuring|cyberforming]] planets, but grew tired of [[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]]'s seeming apathy towards the well-being of his troops. Eventually, Deathsaurus broke away from his command and, using a stolen [[Warworld]], led a contingent of his own troops to ravage worlds. Deathsaurus's betrayal placed him on the [[Decepticon Justice Division]]'s [[The List|List]].

When the DJD eventually came, albeit to offer a deal, a disbelieving Deathsaurus tried to preemptively blow up [[Tarn (DJD)|Tarn]]. Deathsaurus switched off his audio receptors to avoid Tarn's weaponized conversation—but Tarn tapped into the Warworld's [[inter-Decepticon radio]] and bought enough time to offer Deathsaurus a deal: join the DJD in preserving the Decepticon dream and eliminating the then-[[Autobot]] Megatron, in exchange for removing his and his soldiers' names from the List. As a condition, Deathsaurus told Tarn to slay the other members of the DJD as payback for all their past victims, and Tarn refused... which was all Deathsaurus needed to see. Satisfied that his test had proven that Tarn was not so callous about his soldiers' lives as Megatron had been, Deathsaurus agreed to join forces. {{storylink|The Permanent Revolution}}

Months later, the Decepticons ambushed Megatron and his Auto-chums at the [[Censere|Necrobot]]'s [[Necroworld|planet]] {{storylink|The Dying of the Light: (1) How Bright Their Frail Deeds|How Bright Their Frail Deeds}} but, under Tarn's command, they backed off to return at sunset. While being shown Tarn's collection of literary miner corpses (and professing ignorance of early rebel [[Terminus (G1)|Terminus]]), Deathsaurus expressed his troops' frustration that they hadn't just ''killed'' the enemy already. Tarn told him this was an act of psychological torture. Later, he joined the Division in discussing how best to make the final assault. {{storylink|The Dying of the Light Part 2: The Sun in Flight|The Sun in Flight}} When Tarn appeared with [[Overlord (Masterforce)|Overlord]] in tow, Deathsaurus was more than surprised. Overlord immediately started trying to put him off, until he was shut down by [[Kaon (DJD)|Kaon]]'s death. {{storylink|The Dying of the Light Part 3: Your Fierce Tears|Your Fierce Tears}} [[Image:Tarn's library.jpg|thumb|250px|left|I prefer moleskins.]] Along with the rest of the army, Deathsaurus amassed outside the fortress. {{storylink|The Dying of the Light Part 4: At Close of Day|At Close of Day}} In the following battle, Deathsaurus noticed the vigor the Autobots were fighting with and when Megatron arrived, he commented on the fact that Megatron found his fire. Despite the fact that Megatron was decimating his men, Deathsaurus reluctantly followed Tarn's order to send all his troops at Megatron. A well placed shot from Nickel neutralised him, and the three generals gathered round the ex-Decepticon and opened fire. {{storylink|The Dying of the Light Part 5: Rage, Rage|Rage, Rage}}

At that very moment Megatron activated a panic shield, deflecting their blasts. A psychic attack gave Deathsaurus a moment of conscience, and seeing the deaths of his troop he was responsible for, withdrew his forces from the [[Necroworld]]. {{storylink|The Dying of the Light Part 6: Do Not Go Gentle|Do Not Go Gentle}}
{{-}}

==Games==
===''Transformers Ultimate Allstars''===
{{Charstubgames}}
===''Transformers: Earth Wars''===
[[file:DeathsaurusEarthWars.jpg|thumb|upright=1.75|RAAAR!! I am the embodiment of death! The Emperor of Destruction! Fear me! ... Where'd my Breastforce partner go anyways?]]
A tyrant and despot - more than often a rogue one - who can rival Megatron, Deathsaurus wields a deadly spiked flail, a destructive energon sword, and a Living-Metal Destroying cannon. {{storylink|Transformers: Earth Wars|Deathsaurus Bio}}

Deathsaurus was on his usual en route to conquer and oppress when [[Star Saber (Victory)#Transformers: Earth Wars|Star Saber]] engaged him in a mid-space duel. He ended up trapped and frozen in his own Planet-Destroying Fortress, much to his amusement. {{storylink|Transformers: Earth Wars|Deathsaurus Research}}

When the Decepticons were attempting to breach the inner sanctum of a Deception Fortress in the Arctic, they found Deathsaurus guarding it. He declared that "the universe is arena, and Autobots and Decepticons alike are merely contestants." His appearance scared away Brawl and Starscream. To Starscream's retreat he replied, "Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste death but once!" before returning back into the fortress's halls. {{storylink|Transformers: Earth Wars|Arctic Saga - What Lies Beneath}}

The Decepticons soon re-approached him, this time with Megatron and the Constructicons.

Megatron attempted to order Deathsaurus to activate the fortress, intending for them to conquer Earth together. But Deathsaurus replied that Megatron overvalues his contribution and worth, and walks away. He then overloaded the energy levels of his fortress, initiating its self-destruction. He then started laughing maniacally, while the rest of the Decepticons and Autobots in the fortress evacuated. {{storylink|Transformers: Earth Wars|Arctic Saga - The Monster Within}}

After joining the other Decepticons through the Spacebridge, he had Starscream to help him find his Living Metal-Destroying Cannon and his flail that he lost somewhere in the Arctic Circle. He did not get Starscream's sarcastic remark that he wanted a scratch on the back in return.

During their search, Deathsaurus admitted that he had lost his cannon quite a few times. Starscream then asked if he has something like a car beeper. At first Deathsaurus was surprised, but then intrigued and wanted to know more.

Soon he encountered Star Saber, and Star Saber immediately assumed he was after Earth and challenged him to a duel. Starscream upon seeing the Autobots took off, and Star Saber's companions left him to let them settle their "legendary" battle. {{storylink|Transformers: Earth Wars|Deathsaurus Research}}

*'''Class:''' Special
*'''Lowest Star Rating:''' 2 star
*'''Weapons''': He uses a sword to chop up and destroy his foes, and a shield to bash them!
*'''Ability: Blazing Storm''': Rush in, spreading electrical fire in a large radius. All targets in the radius are disabled for 6 seconds (even Shock Towers!), and take some damage.
**'''Cost''': ''12'' ability points + 3 for reuses.

[http://wiki.transformersearthwars.com/character:deathsaurus| Deathsaurus at Transformers: Earth Wars Wiki]

==Toys==
===Victory===
[[File:Deathsaurus g1toy.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|"Aaawrk! Deathy shouldn't be!"]]
*'''Deszaras''' {{sic}} (Large Breastforce, 1989)
**''Japanese ID number'': '''D-336'''
**''Accessories'': Tail/shield, rifle, Tigerbreast & Eaglebreast "Breast Animals"
:"Deszaras" transforms into a blue and grey dragon-like monster styled after traditional Japanese "kaijū"--though he also looks somewhat like a giant mutant space chicken, and in fact the animators would play up the bird-like features significantly more than the reptilian aspects in the cartoon. Unusual for late Generation 1 toys, he has [[die-cast]]-metal feet in [[beast mode]].

:Deathsaurus comes packaged with his Breast Animal partners, Tigerbreast and Eaglebreast, which transform from creatures into hand-held weapons for Deathsaurus, and a pair of breastplates which lock into a spring-loaded socket on the toy's body to form elaborate torso armor for the Deathsaurus's [[robot mode]]. Eaglebreast is inserted first, then Tigerbreast fits on top, concealing it; the figures can also be attached while Deathsaurus is in beast mode, which leaves them on his creature mode's back. Deathsaurus comes with armament in addition to his Breast Animals, including a light blue laser rifle—which, despite what the boxart and cartoon would have you believe, does not have a removable flail—that can be wielded by both an ordinary handle, and a second peg on its butt that allows it to be brandished like a staff or blade of some kind, and his "Death Tailer" shield, which mounts on either of his biceps, and transforms into his beast mode tail.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1989/Destron/Deathsaurus/deathsaurus.htm More information on Deathsaurus at TFU.info]''
{{-}}

===Timelines===
[[File:Deathsaurusbotcontoy.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|If you squint, he could still be [[Megatron (RID)|Megatron]].]]
*'''Descent into Evil''' (multi-pack, 2005)
**''Accessories'': 2 launchers, 2 Energon blade missiles

: Part of the [[BotCon 2005]] "Descent into Evil" boxset, Deathsaurus is a blue and black [[retool]] of [[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 toyline)|2001 ''Robots in Disguise'']] [[Megatron (RID)|Megatron/Galvatron]]. He comes with a pair of swords that can launch their blade-missiles through a pressure-launch mechanism, as well as combine at their bottom ends to form a large double-blade weapon. The blade-missiles are rounded off [[for safety reasons]] like the other [[Hasbro]] uses of the mold. His head is a new sculpt based on Deathsaurus's appearance in the ''Victory'' anime (though Deathsaurus's face seems to be copied from Megatron's).

:Deathsaurus's mold was originally a ten-changer, though the "gargoyle"/bat mode was neutered for this release due to the dropping of the bat snout piece, required to give his new head enough space inside his chest cavity for other modes. He still retains the other nine modes (robot, dragster, jet, [[Popular beast alternate modes|two-headed dragon]], hand, mammoth, hydrofoil, one-headed dragon, and winged griffin). His instructions, however, assign him the six modes of the original RID Megatron, ''including'' the gargoyle and omitting the boat, griffin, mammoth and flying dragon. His tail-piece was removed for in-box storage, but easily popped back on since it's on a ball-and-socket joint.

:Eleven years later, he was retooled again into [[BotCon 2016]]'s ''[[Combiner Wars (toyline)|Combiner Wars]]'' [[Megatron (BW)/toys#Combiner Wars|Megatron]].

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2005/Decepticon/BCDeathsaurus/deathsaurus.htm More information on BotCon Deathsaurus at TFU.info]''
{{--}}

===Generations===
[[File:TF-Platinum-Edition-Combiner-Wars-Deszarus.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|Hop on the dinosaur astrotrain.]]
*'''Liokaiser''' (Platinum Edition giftset, 2016)
**''Accessories'': 2 pairs of Weapon/Combiner extremities (both white & dark gray), 2 Sword-rifles, 2 pairs of double-barreled guns (both white & dark gray), Ironbison's Tank cannon/gun, Drillhorn's Drill-gun, Ion Scythe

:Released as part of the ''[[Transformers: Platinum Edition|Platinum Edition]]'' [[Liokaiser#Platinum Edition|Liokaiser]] giftset, "Dezarus" is a redeco/retool of ''[[Combiner Wars (toyline)|Combiner Wars]]'' Voyager Class [[Sky Lynx (G1)#Generations|Sky Lynx]], transforming from a winged dinosaur thing into a space shuttle. His dino head/shuttle nose has been retooled with new eyes and a new fin, and colored to resembled the original Deathsaurus's beast mode head. His torso mode's combiner head has also been retooled, now sporting a new Liokaiser face beneath its feline helmet. The rest of his deco, meanwhile, mostly draws from Leozack and Jallguar, whom he replaces as Liokaiser's torso. As a ''Combiner Wars'' Voyager Class figure, he is able to combine with any Deluxe Class toys released as part of the same subline but is, of course, intended to be combined with his pack-in [[Breastforce|Destron]]s to form Liokaiser.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2016/Decepticon/CWDezarus/dezarus.htm More information on ''Platinum Edition'' Dezarus at TFU.info]''
{{-}}

==Merchandise==
===Transformers Gum===
[[File:Tfgum deszaras.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4]]
*'''Deathsaurus''' (1989)
**''Accessories:'' Tail/shield, rifle

:Part of the twelfth wave of [[Kabaya]]'s ''[[Transformers Gum]]'' series of [[candy toy]]s, this Deathsaurus figure is a snap-together model kit cast in blue, red, and grey plastic. Although lacking in any paint applications, the figure feature stickers for detail, and retains most of the accessories and features of the actual Deathsaurus toy, though not his Breast Animal partners. It comes with a stick of something that might be gum.
{{-}}

{{anchor|2012}}
[[File:KabayaGumDeathsaurus.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4]]
*'''Deathsaurus''' (2012)
**''Accessories:'' Tail/shield, rifle, Tigerbreast, Eaglebreast

:Part of the fifth wave of the "modern" revival of the Transformers Gum series, Deathsaurus once again makes an appearance as a snap-together transforming model kit with stickered detail. It is an entirely new mold featuring much better color-matching with the full-scale toy. Uniquely, this version also incorporates his transformable Breast Animal partners - though they are actually sold separately, with [[Tigerbreast#Transformers Gum|Tigerbreast]] packed in with [[Optimus Prime (WFC)#Transformers Gum|''War for Cybertron'' Optimus Prime]] and [[Eaglebreast#Transformers Gum|Eaglebreast]] included with [[Hot Spot (G1)#Transformers Gum|Hot Spot]].
{{-}}

===Parody Deformed===
[[File:Deathsaurus pd model.jpg|thumb|upright=0.85]]
*'''Deathsaurus''' (1990)

:A small, blue, white and red, non-transforming [[super deformed]] model kit of Deathsaurus was available as part of [[Kabaya]]'s "[[Parody Deformed]]" line of candy toys. The fourth figure in the series, he came with a "[[Transformers PD Type]]" comic about himself, "Good Job! Deathsaurus!!", and more of that alleged "gum".
{{-}}

===Super Figure Collection===
[[File:Deathsaurus scfs.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Take it all off!]]
*'''Deathsaurus''' (2002)
:A PVC figurine of Deathsaurus was released in the seventh Victory-centric "act" of Takara's ''[[Heroes of Cybertron|Super Collection Figure]].'' Deathsaururs was available in both standard full-color version and metallic silver "pewter" versions; the pewter version came packaged with the wings of Victory Saber, one of several extra pieces packed with the various figures from the wave which could combine with the act's Star Saber figure to turn it into Victory Saber. The wings were available in both standard full color (at a rate of eight out of every ten cases) and rare pewter (only two in every ten).

*'''Deathsaurus with Eaglebreast''' (2002)
:Also available in the seventh wave was a rare "chase" version of the Deathsaurus PVC, available at a rate of one in every ten cases, featuring the character with his inner Breast Animal partner, Eaglebreast, on display, rather than the normal version's Tigerbreast.
{{-}}
===Timelines===
[[File:Deathsauruspin.jpg|thumb|75px|Deathstickus]]

*'''Deathsaurus pin''' (2005)

: The first 100 BotCon 2005 Primus-package preregistrants received an exclusive Deathsaurus pin as part of their registration package.
{{--}}
===Robot Heroes===
[[File:Robot Heroes Victory Saber Dessaras.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67|The face that launch'd a thousand ships.]]
*'''Victory Saber''' / '''Dessaras''' (unreleased)

:A surprise entry in the ''[[Robot Heroes (toyline)|Robot Heroes]]'' series, this [[super deformed]] figurine of Deathsaurus also sports a name variant that hearkens back to his original Japanese moniker, only missing the spelling by one letter. Originally discovered amongst [[Walmart]] store computer listings in mid-2008, he would have come packaged with an equally-adorable Victory Saber, but alas, the two-pack failed to materialize before the ''Robot Heroes'' line was canceled.
{{canceledtoy}}

{{--}}

==Notes==
[[File:DeathsaurusAndRedGeist.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Definitely not toy-accurate, but definitely awesome.]]

*While often called a [[dragon]] or occasionally a [[griffin]], and hilariously, a "bigbird" on his original Japanese [[bio]] card, Deathsaurus is most likely styled after traditional Japanese "kaijū", such as [[Godzilla]] or Rodan.
*The original Deathsaurus mold was redecoed into the non-living "Red Geist" (レッドガイスト ''Reddo Gaisuto'') mech for [[TakaraTomy|Takara]]'s ''[[Brave (franchise)|Brave of Legend Da Garn]]'' toyline, which lacked the Eaglebreast partner. Although the character design in the television show for the line was significantly modified from that of Deathsaurus (see image at right), including replacing Tigerbreast's tiger mode with a jet mode, the Red Geist toy itself was not retooled. [http://tfbaka.de-blog.jp/1dai/2008/08/post_6871.html More on Red Geist at a Japanese toy photoblog.]
*Like all non-toy robot Kreons in the ''Kre-O'' comics, Deathsaurus is made from existing ''Kre-O'' parts. He uses the [[Inferno (Kre-O)|Inferno]] helmet, the [[Starscream (Kre-O)|Starscream]] wing-pack, a thick rifle, a 2x4 "wing" plate attached (somehow) to his arm to replicate the tail-shield... and then there's his chestplate. The plate itself is a 1x1 plate with twin bars and a pair of Starscream arm-guns attached... but it's "connected" to a 2x2 harness piece, which can only be done by adding a 1x2 center-peg plate in between them which is kind of unnecessary since there's a 1x1 harness piece that will do the job nicely, no middle-brick required.

===His stupid name===
Deathsaurus's name is the source of a long-lasting argument. The phonetic Japanese reading of the name is: "Desuzarasu". This is represented in English on his toy packaging and tech specs as "Deszaras." English-speaking fans would long debate the "proper" [[romanization]] of the name, interpreting it as Deszaras, Deathzaras, Deathsaurus, Death Czarus, Death Czaras, and many others. "Deathsaurus" had a tendency to be the most popular and well-known (on account of it actually ''meaning'' something), which led to it being used on the character's first Western toy in 2005, making it his official American name.

At [[BotCon 2015]], after ''decades'' of such back-and-forths, the designer of the original toy, [[Kōjin Ōno]], confirmed that the name was indeed always supposed to have been "Deathsaurus"… during a panel presentation that rendered the name as "Dethzarasu". It is anyone's guess as to why the original Japanese lettering did not read "saurusu" or "zaurusu," as had already been done with [[Trypticon (G1)|Dinosaurer]] and [[Saur]], rather than "zarasu". As such, in the years before that revelation was made clear, the character had continued to be called "Deszaras" on the [[Metrodome]] and [[Madman Entertainment]] DVD boxsets of the ''Victory'' cartoon.

At one point Hasbro appeared to be trying to steer things back in that direction with the cancelled [[Robot Heroes (toyline)|Robot Heroes]] figure, named "Dessaras". Only one letter off, there, guys! When Hasbro introduced ''Combiner Wars'' [[Liokaiser#Generations|Liokaiser]], they used the spelling "Dezarus".

===Foreign names===
*''Arabic:'' '''Deathsandar''' (دثساندر ''Dithsāndar'')
*''English:'' '''Deathsanras''' ([[Omni Productions]] dub)
*''Mandarin:'' '''Shènglā''' (Taiwan, 盛拉), '''Dà Kǒnglóng Sàlāsī''' (China, 大恐龙萨拉斯, "Big Dinosaur Saras")
*''Russian:'' '''Smertonosets''' (Смертоносец, "Death bringer")
*''Spanish:'' '''Zan Rás''' (America)
*''Ukrainian:'' '''Smertelnyi Sanraz''' (Смертельний Санраз)

[[Category:Beast Wars Decepticons]]
[[Category:BotCon exclusives]]
[[Category:Breastforce]]
[[Category:Candy toys]]
[[Category:Combiner Wars]]
[[Category:Decepticon leaders]]
[[Category:Dreamwave Generation 1 Transformers]]
[[Category:Emperors]]
[[Category:Generation 1 Decepticons]]
[[Category:IDW Generation 1 Decepticons]]
[[Category:Kre-O Decepticons]]
[[Category:Kreons]]
[[Category:Platinum Edition]]
[[Category:Timelines characters]]
[[Category:Wings Universe Decepticons]]

Deathsaurus (G1)

2017-04-26T00:52:09Z

7Crimsonified7: /* Zone catalog */

{{factions|decepticon}}
{{featured}}
{{disambig3|Deathsaurus}}
:''Deathsaurus is a [[Decepticon]] from the [[Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers: Victory (franchise)|Victory portion]] of the [[Generation 1 continuity family]].''

[[File:Deathsaurus1.jpg|325px|thumb|Spell it right or you're kickbanned, buster.]]

'''Deathsaurus''' (デスザラス ''Desuzarasu'') began terrorizing the galaxy long before ascending to the position of Decepticon [[Emperor of Destruction]]. For thousands of years, this savage and cruel dictator has spread terror throughout the universe, and has now set his sights upon the Earth as a source of energy to power his terrifying superweapon, the [[Planet-Destroying Fortress]]. And if [[Star Saber (Victory)|Star Saber]] should get in his way, so much the better: Deathsaurus bears the Autobot [[Supreme Commander]] a bitter grudge, and relishes any opportunity to destroy him that presents itself.

Deathsaurus is a [[Breastforce]] warrior, partnered with two transforming chestplates that become the [[Breast Animal]]s [[Tigerbreast]] and [[Eaglebreast]]. He wields a deadly spiked flail, and the [[Living-Metal-Destroying Cannon]], which erodes the living metallic cells of super-robot lifeforms. The bladed wings of his creature mode absorb sunlight, converting it into dark energy, and he can then launch these energized blades at his opponents in an attack known as his "Death Wing". Despite all of these terrifying powers, however, Deathsaurus is a surprisingly "hands off" leader, who is perfectly happy to allow his subordinates to formulate their own plans and schemes to gather energy for him—but if they should fail, he'll always be there to berate and brutalize them. Even when the plans are his own, Deathsaurus is content to watch and command from a distance, rather than dirty his own hands—but he'll rarely waste a chance to engage Star Saber on the battlefield, and if that occurs, woe betide anyone who gets in Deathsaurus's way.

Curiously, Deathsaurus permits himself one distinctive, unusual foible: although he despises most humans, he has a surprising soft spot for children.

Sometimes he is known as '''Dezarus'''. In some universes, he can combine with the ''Destron'' team to form [[Liokaiser]], replacing Leozack & Jallguar.

{{quote|I will not forgive this, Star Saber! I swear! I swear I will crush you with my bare hands! I swear, you worm! With my bare hands!|Deathsaurus tells you all you'll ever need to know about him|"[[Resurrection!? The Decepticon Fortress]]"}}

==Fiction==
===Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity===
====''Super-God Masterforce'' cartoon====
Clips of Deathsaurus were seen when [[Shūta Gō|Shūta]] and [[Grand Maximus]] were talking about the new [[Supreme Commander]] [[Star Saber (Victory)|Star Saber]]. {{storylink |Shūta and Grand's Masterforce Super-Secrets!}}

====''Victory'' cartoon====
{{voiceactor|[[Takeshi Aono]] (Japanese)|[[Rik Thomas]] (English, Omni Productions dub), [[Víctor Mares]] (Latin American Spanish)}}

[[File:Deathsaurus fortress.jpg|left|thumb|225px|By the power of Grayskull!]]

500,000 years ago, striving to become the Decepticons' new Emperor of Destruction, Deathsaurus created a gigantic battle fortress capable of destroying planets, but an attack by the young Autobot commander Star Saber saw the fortress de-powered and trapped in a gravity cell at the heart of the region of space known as [[Dark Nebula]]. This began the enmity between Star Saber and Deathsaurus, and as both combatants rose through the ranks of their respective armies, Deathsaurus vowed to eventually liberate his fortress and use it to destroy Star Saber. {{storylink|Resurrection!? The Decepticon Fortress}}

Some years prior to 2025, after the conclusion of the [[Masterforce War]] on Earth, Deathsaurus succeeded [[Overlord (Masterforce)|Overlord]] as Decepticon leader and achieved his dream of becoming Emperor of Destruction. {{storylink|#Toys|Deathsaurus's ''Victory'' toy bio}} Under his command, the Decepticons began seeking a planet that they could call their own and invaded worlds all across the galaxy. To counteract Deathsaurus's campaign of terror, the Autobots—now with Star Saber serving as their Supreme Commander—and many other sentient races formed the [[Galactic Peace Alliance]], and struck back at the Decepticons with their [[Galactic Peace Alliance|Galactic Defense Force]]. As time passed and this conflict continued, Deathsaurus began focusing his attacks on "Sector One" of the galaxy, containing the planet Earth, until 2025, when the severity and frequency of the attacks forced Star Saber to take command of the Defense Force unit in that area himself. {{storylink|The Brave Hero of the Universe - Star Saber}}

[[File:Deathsaurus starsaber moonbattle.jpg|thumb|225px|Parry on regardless.]]

When Deathsaurus's [[Dinoforce]] attacked the [[Lunar Base (Victory)|Lunar Base]] on Earth's [[Moon (moon)|moon]], Star Saber raced to aid his fellow [[Brainmaster]]s in battle there, only to find his way barred by Deathsaurus. Hoping to distract Star Saber long enough for the Dinoforce to finish their job, Deathsaurus engaged his old foe in battle, but Star Saber broke off the fight as quickly as he could and headed on toward the moon with Deathsaurus hot on his heels. After Star Saber defeated the Dinoforce, Deathsaurus caught up to him and unleashed his Breast Animals upon the Autobot in both beast and weapon forms. Star Saber eventually won out, defeating both the creatures and besting Deathsaurus in a swordfight, forcing the Decepticon leader to summon up his craft, the ''[[Thunder Arrow]],'' and flee aboard it. {{storylink|The Brave Hero of the Universe - Star Saber}}

[[File:Deathsaurus throne.jpg|left|thumb|225px|THRONE'D!]]

Recognizing the Earth as a rich source of energy that he could use to power up his Planet-Destroying Fortress, Deathsaurus centered most of his subsequent attacks on the planet, summoning the Breastforce to aid in the campaign. {{storylink|Sneak Attack! Dinoking}} {{storylink|Attack! Leozack}} {{storylink|Unite!! Multiforce}} Deathsaurus was entirely aware of the fact that the Breastforce's leader [[Leozack]] had designs on leadership of the Decepticons for himself, {{storylink|Move Out! Rescue Team}} but he was amused enough by it to let him slide by, allowing Leozack to believe that he was oblivious to his schemes. Residing on the Thunder Arrow as it hopscotched around the planet and solar system, Deathsaurus was content to watch as his troops staged numerous attacks on Earth. {{storylink|Infiltration... The Uranium Mine}} {{storylink|Explosion!! The Energy Base}}

[[File:Deathsaurus beastmode.jpg|thumb|225px|Not to be confused with the [[w:Robot Chicken|Adult Swim]] show of the same name.]]

Deathsaurus finally decided to join his troops on a mission when the Decepticon began draining electrical energy from an American subway system. While the Breastforce snuck through the subway tunnels, Deathsaurus himself targeted the power distribution center, where he was confronted by Star Saber. The true cunning of Deathsaurus's scheme was revealed when he let loose his Breast Animals, and Star Saber proved no match for the creatures in the small confines of the underground complex. Unfortunately for Deathsaurus, he had overlooked the fact that with both Breast Animals deployed, his own chest was left unprotected, leaving it open to an attack from Star Saber's Saber Blade. Wounded, Deathsaurus recalled his Breast Animals and fled, but not without successfully taking the energy he had managed to steal beforehand. {{storylink|Big City - Underground Terror}}

When the Breastforce were joined by [[Hellbat (Victory)|Hellbat]], the newcomer also adopted designs on the Decepticon throne. {{storylink|The New Warrior - Hellbat}} Deathsaurus was even less concerned with Hellbat's ambitions than he was with Leozack's, though, since the two would-be traitors were always too busy fighting with each other to pose a serious threat to him. In their constant games of one-upmanship, Leozack and Hellbat crafted numerous failed schemes of their own, eventually forcing Deathsaurus to step in and give his minions a mission of his own devising. Deathsaurus had the Decepticons hide in the asteroid belt and capture human shuttlecraft in order to use drain their energy and use them to create an energy alloy. Star Saber soon got wise to the villains' evildoings and arrived to put a stop to them, but again, Deathsaurus successfully escaped with his amassed energy. {{storylink|A Fierce Battle!! The Asteroid}}

[[File:Starsaber living metal destroying cannon.jpg|left|thumb|Say hello to my little friend...]]

While the Breastforce were busy on planet [[Micro]], Deathsaurus and the Dinoforce took the Thunder Arrow into the Dark Nebula, where Deathsaurus emptied his stockpile of energy into his inactive fortress. The giant structure briefly flared back to life, but soon shut down once more; Deathsaurus was unfazed, having only sought to confirm whether or not the fortress could even be reactivated. On the trip back to Earth, the Decepticons crossed paths with Star Saber and the [[Rescue Patrol Team]], and Deathsaurus engaged Star Saber in battle with his Living-Metal-Destroying Cannon. Although Deathsaurus was actually able to pull the trigger on what would have been a fatal blast, he discovered that he had expended too much of his energy supply reactivating his fortress, and his weapons systems shut down before he could end Star Saber's life, necessitating his tactical withdrawal. {{storylink|Resurrection!? The Decepticon Fortress}}

[[File:Deathsaurus vs leozack.jpg|thumb|Tell me, what was the color of Napoleon's White horse?]]

Deathsaurus next clashed with Star Saber in Antarctica, only stepping onto the battlefield after the Breastforce, combined as [[Liokaiser]], had severely weakened Star Saber. Deathsaurus took over the fight, intent on being the one to deliver the final blow, but Star Saber was able to turn the battle around, and forced Deathsaurus into retreat. {{storylink|Fight to the Death!! Antarctic Battle}} In a later battle atop the Thunder Arrow, deep in the desert, Star Saber again humbled Deathsaurus, this time with the aid of [[Greatshot]], but the fight left both the Supreme Commander and [[Blacker]] badly wounded. {{storylink|Crisis! Ambush in the Desert}} Capitalizing on the Autobots' reduced manpower, Deathsaurus stepped up the Decepticons' attacks across the planet, and removed another annoyance by finally calling Leozack out on his treachery. Easily besting the traitorous Breastforcer in combat, Deathsaurus forced him to swear total loyalty to him, or face death. Leozack made the logical choice, and then, combined with his fellow Breastforcers as Liokaiser, joined with his leader in staging an ambush for Star Saber in a subterranean cave in Asia. Disguising himself as a Terracotta Army-esque statue, Deathsaurus was able to get the drop on Star Saber when Liokaiser lured him into the cave, and again unleashed the Living-Metal-Destroying Cannon on his enemy. Once more, Deathsaurus stood poised to kill Star Saber with the weapon, until the last-minute arrival of [[Ginrai (robot)|God Ginrai]], who took the fatal shot. Liokaiser had to persuade the incensed Deathsaurus to retreat as more Autobots arrived, {{storylink|A Deadly Battle}} but the Decepticon leader soon clashed with Star Saber once more in a later battle at a solar power station. Deathsaurus emerged victorious in that fight when Star Saber was forced to flee upon receiving news of Ginrai's deteriorating condition. {{storylink|Ginrai Dies!!}} Ginrai's life was saved, however, when he was rebuilt into the powerful new warror, [[Victory Leo]]. {{storylink|Fight!! Victory Leo}}

Next, Deathsaurus began bombarding the Earth with missiles from an orbital weapons platform, as a means of staying the Autobots' hands while his forces gathered energy across the planet. Star Saber and Victory Leo were able to thwart his plan by combining into the mighty Victory Saber; Deathsaurus's missile launch system had been programmed based on Star Saber's speed, but with the added power of Victory Leo, the Autobot hero was able to outrace the missiles, destroy the launcher and defeat Deathsaurus in an outer space battle. {{storylink|The Tide Is Turned! The Ultimate Weapon, the Victory Unification}}

[[File:Victory37 finalblow.jpg|left|thumb|Who says robots don't bleed?]]

Following an attempt to destroy the Autobots with the metal-eating [[Doriya]] insects, {{storylink|The Death-Bringing Space Insects!!}} Deathsaurus was informed by Hellbat that he had discovered the location of the sunken continent of [[Atlantis]], which could provide the raw energy to reactivate his fortress. Deathsaurus risked all or nothing to obtain Atlantis's energy, using up the Thunder Arrow's entire energy stockpile to raise the continent, but the plan proved a success, as the Autobots were too busy dealing with the devastating tidal waves caused by the rise of Atlantis to stop him from absconding with enough energy to bring his fortress back online. {{storylink|The Terror of the Giant Tidal Waves}} Having no further use for the bumbling Dinoforce, Deathsaurus abandoned them on Earth and headed back to the Dark Nebula with the Breastforce, where he successfully re-energized his fortress and began moving it towards Earth. {{storylink|The Wrath of the Resurrected Giant Fortress!}}

[[File:Victory37 deadsaurus.jpg|thumb|With my last breath, I curse Zoidberg!]]

Intent on learning from the failures of all past Decepticon leaders, Deathsaurus chose not to conquer Earth, but to utterly destroy the planet, eradicting from Decepticon history the humiliating stain of defeat the planet represented. As the fortress rained destruction down upon Earth with meteor bombs, even Victory Saber could not stand up to its power. Soon, however, a resentful Dinoforce supplied information on the fortress's weak spot to Star Saber's adopted human son, [[Jan Minakaze|Jan]], who then used his own [[Illumina II|personal mech]] to enter the fortress and strike at this vulnerability. As he did so, Deathsaurus and Star Saber engaged in a vicious final battle, during which Deathsaurus lost an eye, and was eventually stopped when Star Saber broke his sword off in the villain's chest. Gushing fuel and fluid, Deathsaurus vowed to have the last laugh as he set the crippled fortress on a collision course with Earth and blew himself out an airlock, vowing to return again and again. But, as his body drifted off into space, no sign of life was visible from the conquered emperor. Victory Saber was able to subsequently destroy the fortress before it collided with Earth, but Deathsaurus was not heard from again. {{storylink|Showdown! The Fortress vs the Victory Unification}}
{{-}}
{{charstubfiction|{{storylink|Attack the Shuttle Base!!}} {{storylink|Tanker Hijack Operation}} {{storylink|Rescue Jan!!}} {{storylink|Unite! Liokaiser}} {{storylink|Battle Up of Wrath!!}} {{storylink|Jan - Defend the Campus!!}} {{storylink|A Mystery?! The Deception of the Base Bombs}}}}

====''Zone'' catalog====
[[File:DarkEmperorDeathsaurusZone01.jpg|thumb|upright=0.85|What is it with Decepticon emperors and their absurd weapons?]]

Through means unknown, Deathsaurus was resurrected as the "[[Emperor of Destruction|Dark Emperor]]" and once again lead the Decepticons in an attack on the Autobots. This time, it was a full-on assault on planet [[Micro|Zone]] in an attempt to seize the Micro Zone's [[Energon Z]]. The [[Micromaster]]s repelled his attack and sent Deathsaurus into retreat. What became of him afterward is unknown. {{storylink|Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers: Zone (story page)#Catalogue story page 1|Zone Project Story}}
{{-}}

===''Victory'' manga===
[[File:MangaYoungDeathyStarSaber.jpg|left|thumb|225px|"Come back here and help me put some sense in this image!"]]
Deathsaurus and Star Saber's rivalry began 500,000 years ago when they were both children, and according to Star Saber, "argued all the time". {{storylink|The Star of Friendship, Jan and Star Saber!}} In his "adult" years, Deathsaurus took [[Esmeral (Victory)|Esmeral]] as his wife, and in order to keep both her and the families of his fellow Decepticons safe aboard his "Space Stronghold", Deathsaurus began attacking Earth, in order to obtain the planet's energy and use it to keep the stronghold fully powered-up. {{storylink|Heroic! The Victory War}}

During one of his early attacks on Earth, Deathsaurus took pity on an infant human named [[Solon Kitakaze (Victory)|Solon Kitakaze]], whose parents had died in the assault. Deathsaurus "adopted" Solon and turned him into a cyborg, raising him as his own son, just as Star Saber did with the human child Jan Minakaze. As Star Saber and Deathsaurus had been rivals in their youth, so too would Solon and Jan become rivals when, in 2025, Deathsaurus's campaign against Earth intensified.

Deathsaurus and Star Saber's first major battle in this campaign was a brief one, with Deathsaurus being felled by a single swipe of Star Saber's Saber Blade, {{storylink|Magnificent! Our Friend, Star Saber!}} but the Emperor of Destruction had a better showing in their next clash, during which he absorbed enough energy from a forest fire to best Star Saber, Road Caesar and Landcross all together. Deathsaurus's unusual compassion for children proved to be his downfall in this battle when he was distracted by the sight of Solon, gripping Jan in a hold that threatened the boy's life. While Deathsaurus's attention was occupied with striking Solon as punishment, Star Saber blindsided and defeated him with a Super Saber Meteor Spin. {{storylink|Great Turn-Around! Star Saber}}

Deathsaurus later sent Solon to study in school on Earth, in order to learn more about humans, thereby making it easier to conquer them. {{storylink|Leozack Rumbles Violently!}} While Solon was on Earth, he and Jan were approached by former Autobot human allies [[Shūta Gō]] and [[Cab (human)|Cab]], {{storylink|Warrior of Love, Star Saber!}} and with Jan, they formed the "Autobot Boy Team" known as the [[Victories]]. Seeking to counter this group with a team of his own, Deathsaurus had [[Yokuryu]] capture Jan and bring him to the ''Thunder Arrow'', where he attempted to bribe the boy into joining the Decepticons' group with toys, a [[Family Computer|Famicom]], candy and cash. When an enraged Star Saber soon came tearing into the ''Thunder Arrow'', Deathsaurus crossed swords with the Autobot leader, but was then distracted by Jan distracting who exploited the Decepticon's bizarre fear of caterpillars by dangling one in his face. The cowering Deathsaurus was promptly bested in dramatically explosive fashion by Star Saber's "Planetary Impulse Sword" technique, and realised with hindsight that Solon was the only kid he needed. {{storylink|Watch Out, Jan! Hurry, Star Saber!}} Deathsaurus was apparently left so badly injured by this clash that he couldn't participate in the next battle, given that he was only seen lying in bed, coughing, with Solon resting a giant ice-pack on his head. {{storylink|The Star of Friendship, Jan and Star Saber!}}

[[File:Kingsaurus.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|The mighty Kingsaurus. Mighty.]]

Rested and healthy again, Deathsaurus joined with [[Dinoking]] and Liokaiser in going up against Star Saber together, and perhaps not entirely surprisingly, the badly outnumbered Autobot was defeated by the three Decepticons. Before they could deliver the killing stroke, however, Star Saber was saved by the sudden arrival of Victory Leo, with whom he combined to form Victory Saber. The merged pair defeated the trio of Decepticons in one blast of their "Flash Victory" attack. {{storylink|The Strongest Partners, the Combination of Victory!}} Deathsaurus immediately sought out away to combat Star Saber's new power, and developed a Transformer-sized mech for Solon named "King Solon," with which he could combine to form "Kingsaurus". In this new form, Deathsaurus battled Victory Saber on the planet [[Guard]], with neither combatant getting the upper hand in over three hours of fighting. When [[Patty Minakaze]]'s mentioned the word "mother", however, something of Solon's past was stirred in the boy's mind, and he was distracted long enough for Victory Saber to destroy the King Solon mech components with his Victory. The burning Solon tumbled to the ground, where Patty tended his wounds despite his protestations. Perhaps wary of Solon's confused emotional state, Deathsaurus reminded him that while he was a human child, he was a Decepticon's son by fate. {{storylink|Mighty! Victory Saber}}

[[File:Starsaber deathsaurus truce.jpg|left|225px|thumb|"So, we both agree that the childhood friendship thingie made no sense at all?" "Yes! Oh, what a glorious day!"]]

As it turned out, Deathsaurus was right to be wary—in the midst of a later battle with Star Saber and Road Caesar, Solon turned against Deathsaurus and sided with the Victories, opening fire on his "father" and declaring that he would fight to protect the Earth, instead of destroy it. Now with Solon on their side, the Victories were able to channel their power into the Autobots, and the Decepticons were sent fleeing by the "Five Stars of Victory" attack. {{storylink|Shine! The Five Stars of Victory}} Deathsaurus led the Decepticons back to the Space Stronghold and began bombarding the Earth with meteor bombs, prompting the Autobots to attack it. Deathsaurus left the Breastforce to man the fortress while he engaged Star Saber in a final battle in the void of space, but had not reckoned with the treachery of Leozack, who fired on his emperor with the fortress's main cannon. To save himself, Deathsaurus was forced to return fire on the fortress, and Star Saber followed suite, smashing into the fortress's control chamber and taking Leozack down. As Leozack begged the Autobots not to destroy the fortress, the wounded Deathsaurus arrived and revealed to the Autobots the presence of the Decepticons' families aboard the vessel. Realizing that the Decepticons' had only done what they had in the name of their families' safety, Star Saber decided that it was time for the two leaders to follow the example set by their sons and lay down their arms. Deathsaurus and Star Saber shook hands, and the [[Victory War]] came to an end, bringing peace to everyone—the truest victory of all! {{storylink|Heroic! The Victory War}}
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===''Transformers PD Type'' comic===
[[File:PDType Deathsaurus blackball.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4]]
Out of ammo, the Autobots started throwing things at Deathsaurus, including a [[Blackball]]! Gloating, Deathsaurus began to plan his conquest of the galaxy, only to become so annoyed at the rocks bouncing off his head that in frustration he threw the Blackball at the Autobots. {{storylink|Transformers PD Type##4 "Good Job! Deathsaurus!!"|Good Job! Deathsaurus!!}} Right when Star Saber was ready to finish him, Deathsaurus brought in Liokaiser. The two Decepticons were soon hunting for their enemy as he frantically tried to contact Victory Leo. {{storylink|Transformers PD Type##5 "Don't Lose! Star Saber!!"|Don't Lose! Star Saber!!}}

Deathsaurus and [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]] were pounced on by Victory Leo until Megatron was able to distract the lion with a huge ball of yarn, allowing the Decepticons to escape. {{storylink|Transformers PD Type##6 "Tough as Nails! Victory Leo!"|Tough as Nails! Victory Leo!}} After a lengthy mid-air battle with Star Saber, Deathsaurus fell from the sky and ended up with [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]] chewing on his head. {{storylink|Transformers PD Type##8 "Me Strongest! Me Grimlock!"|Me Strongest! Me Grimlock!}}
{{--}}

===Dreamwave ''Generation One'' continuity===
[[File:Deathsaurus dreamwave.jpg|left|thumb|125px|Polish Me!]]
Deathsaurus was an [[Destron (G1)|ancient Transformer]] from Cybertron's lost past. While searching for clues about the planet's history, Megatron stumbled across a hidden chamber beneath the planet's surface containing two massive statues of Deathsaurus and [[Dai Atlas (Zone)|Dai Atlas]], holding a [[Golden Disk (ancient)|golden disk]] between them. This chamber apparently told of a vast Cybertronian Empire that ended prior to recorded history. {{storylink|The Route of All Evil}}
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===Descent into Evil===
[[File:Deathsaurustimelines.jpg|thumb|Deathsaurus orchestrates the rise of a New Decepticon Empire, or NAMBLA.]]

Using a clone lab on [[Ceti Alpha Seven]], Deathsaurus wished to revive the fading [[Decepticon Empire]] with a vast [[Insecticon (G1)|Insecticon]] army. After the first batch of [[Virulent Clone|clones]] was completed, his operation was interrupted by a team of [[Autobot]] commandos under the command of [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]]. Deathsaurus overpowered and captured the first wave himself, and soon faced Ironhide one-on-one, while [[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]] attempted to rescue the fallen Autobots. Due to the assistance of Tripredacus Agent [[Flamewar (G1)|Flamewar]], these two were defeated and captured as well.

They woke up bound inside Deathsaurus's clone lab. The Emperor of Destruction appeared on a television screen, declaring that his use for the lab was completed and was prepared to detonate it remotely with the Autobots inside. Unfortunately for Deathsaurus, the Autobot espionage agent [[Ricochet (Timelines)|Ricochet]] not only freed the Autobots before the explosion occurred, but also seeded the remaining clones with a virus, leaving Deathsaurus with nothing to show for his work. {{storylink|Descent into Evil}}
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===Theft of the Golden Disk===
Years later, towards the end of the Great War, the [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] [[Cryotek (Universe)|Cryotek]] worked under Deathsaurus as a supply manager. When the final defeat of the Decepticons at last came, Cryotek led his fellow Predacon workers in a rebellion against Deathsaurus, and used the materials he stole from his depot to begin his own criminal empire. {{storylink|Transformers Collectors' Club|Cryotek's "Theft of the Golden Disk" profile}}

===''Wings Universe''===
Deathsaurus's origins are unknown, but he quickly rose within the ranks of the Decepticons after the uprisings began. He established himself as one of the fourteen leading [[Decepticon Warlord|Warlord]]s in the Decepticon cause and gathered a small inner circle of followers including [[Falcon (G1)|Falcon]], [[Vanquish (G1)|Vanquish]], and [[Lyzack (Victory)|Lyzack]]. {{storylink|Hasbro Transformers Collectors' Club issue 34|Deathsaurus's profile in Club magazine #34}} He had managed to recuit the latter as his personal servant by promising to aid Lyzack in liberating her [[Leozack|brother]] from the Autobots. {{storylink|Hasbro Transformers Collectors' Club issue 40|Lyzack's profile in Club magazine #40}} Deathsaurus preferred to lead from his throne room, directing others to carry out his strategies from a distance. He accumulated a great deal of ill-gotten wealth from his forces' assaults on high-ranking generals and aristocrats in the Autobot hierarchy, while carrying on his own experiments into the areas of [[Triple Changer|multiple alternate modes]] and [[Combiner|combination technology]]. {{storylink|Hasbro Transformers Collectors' Club issue 34|Deathsaurus's profile in Club magazine #34}}

Following a raid against the Autobot general [[Traachon]], Deathsaurus sat in his throne room enjoying the fruit of his labors, and the finest oil reserves from the good general's private stash. He updated himself on [[Rage (G1)|Rage]]'s final fate at [[Median]] thanks to his deep cover source, [[Flip Sides (G1)|Flip Sides]]. Reviewing the details of the conflict with the [[Cybertron Elite Guard|Elite Guard]], a plan began to form in his diabolical processor regarding the reported victors, the [[Combaticon (G1)|Combaticon]]s. {{storylink|Flames of Yesterday}}

[[File:TheComingStorm4-LordDeathsaurus.jpg|left|thumb|upright=2.2|He wasn't quite sure whether he was hiring [[Leozack]] or [[Lyzack (Victory)|Lyzack]] to serve him drinks.]]

Seeing the possibility of swaying the Combaticons to his cause, Deathsaurus had [[Onslaught (G1)|Onslaught]] and his men captured and brought to his headquarters. In his throne room Deathsaurus wove a complicated web of deceit, half-truths, and temptations to bring the Elite Guardsmen under his control. [[Swindle (G1)|Swindle]] and [[Vortex (G1)|Vortex]] were easy, as their respective greed and love of fine oil was easy to satisfy. To earn their trust, Deathsaurus offered to fix up the Combaticons' armor due to the "mistaken" injuries they suffered at the hands of his soldiers, and he also offered to upgrade them in the process. The lonely [[Blast Off (G1)|Blast Off]] was quick to jump at the idea of having both land and space modes, letting him remain active and useful on the ground. [[Brawl (G1)|Brawl]]'s anger could not be easily cooled, so Deathsaurus merely redirected it, suggesting the Combaticons could not fight properly without the Elite Guard backing them up. After that comment, Brawl was more than willing to fight the Elite Guard to prove he was tougher.

Onslaught was the most difficult to manipulate, and so Deathsaurus appealed to his pride, intimating that Onslaught's strategic skill had waned since his days at the top of [[Omnihelix Academy]]. Instead, Deathsaurus posited that Onslaught could reach his full potential once freed from the shackles of the Elite Guard. By defeating the Guard, the Combaticons could prove they were better than Autobot and Decepticon alike, and become a new symbol of power on post-war Cybertron. Unwilling to appear weak, and lured by the notion of personal power and recognition, Onslaught relented. At this point, the Combaticons were all suitably mollified, ready to follow Deathsaurus's commands while still believing it was ''their'' decision to do so. Deathsaurus sealed the deal with his newly completed combiner technology blueprints, and left Onslaught to plan his attack. {{storylink|The Coming Storm: Part 4}}

As the Combaticons prepared for an attack against their former allies, Deathsaurus turned his attention to other matters. Although he had a seat on the Decepticon War Council, Deathsaurus rarely if ever chose to attend the meetings. Instead, he sent his spokesman, Falcon in his place. With the Council in disarray after the capture of [[Gutcruncher (G1)|Gutcruncher]] and the merger of the [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicon]]s and [[Photon]]s with Megatron's forces, Deathsaurus decided it was time to act. He sent the unwitting Falcon to the council meeting with a bomb and detonated it, killing his faithful lieutenant and five of the remaining Warlords. With one well-timed explosion, Deathsaurus ensured that only he and [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] remained as Decepticon Warlords and rivals for power. Deathsaurus then turned to continue planning with Falcon's replacement, his newly appointed lieutenant and head of the [[Seeker (body-type)|Skyraider-Seeker Brigade]].

His name was [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]]. {{storylink|A Team Effort}}

[[File:BattleLines3-makeyoupay.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|Dude, just use a [[Robo-Smasher]] and spare yourself the effort.]]

Starscream was happy to report to Deathsaurus that the Combaticons, in their new combined form of [[Bruticus (G1)|Bruticus]], had successfully vanquished the Elite Guard, and that the turncoats were on their way back to Deathsaurus' lair. Despite their victory, Starscream chafed at his commander's plan to welcome them into the Decepticons proper. Starscream feared that the Combaticons were not true Decepticons, but instead using their new allegiance to further their own quest for power. Deathsaurus countered that was what made them the perfect Decepticons, and reminded his new lieutenant that ambition is what separates the Decepticons from the stagnation and complacency of the Autobots. Starscream acquiesced and was ordered by Deathsaurus to help Lyzack prepare the medical bay for the arriving Combaticons. {{storylink|Battle Lines, Part 1}}

Deathsaurus observed as the Combaticons were repaired, and ordered Constructicons to concentrate on repairing them to the point that they could form Bruticus at Deathsaurus's will. After Bruticus proved to wild to control and was shut down, Starscream admired Deathsaurus's forethought in adding an override to the Combiner. He also warned the Warlord of an Elite Guard squad approaching their base. Deathsaurus ordered Starscream to call the troops to arms. {{storylink|Battle Lines, Part 2}} He himself took part in the fight, exchanging blows with [[Magnum]] and informing the Autobot that he had done nothing to the Combaticons' minds other than convince them they would be better served by the Decepticon cause. Outraged, Magnum renewed his attack on the self-proclaimed emperor. {{storylink|Battle Lines, Part 3}}

[[File:BattleLines5-istillfunction.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.66|"Did I do... good?" "Look, stop stealing other guys' lines!"]]

The Warlord pointed out mockingly that Magnum's backup appeared to be falling flat, at which point the Autobot blasted him in the chest. Magnum took a battering from Lyzack, and Deathsaurus picked himself up to find Magnum and [[Thunder Clash|Thunderclash]] right where he could finish them off. Unfortunately that was when [[Sprocket (G1)|Sprocket]] jumped on him, demanding a [[zap-pony]] ride, and then shot him in his already damaged chest. Deathsaurus ordered a retreat, however the greatest indignity was still to come, as when he got home, he found his throne had been claimed by Megatron. {{storylink|Battle Lines, Part 4}}

Deathsaurus was chained and led into the gladiatorial arena to face Megatron in a ritual contest to decide leadership of the Decepticons. Deathsaurus bitterly observed that if Megatron wanted this to be a fair fight, he would allow him to first repair the injuries that were dealt by Magnum and Sprocket—but Megatron laughed off the notion that he could ever want a fair fight. Megatron defeated Deathsaurus in melee combat, clawed his face off, then blasted him with his fusion cannon at point-blank range for good measure—emerging as the unquestioned leader of the Decepticons. As the troops rallied around their new leader, Lyzack approached her fallen emperor and found that, despite his tremendous damage, he still functioned. The humbled Deathsaurus said he had no choice but to go into exile, and Lyzack agreed to accompany him. {{storylink|Battle Lines, Part 5}}
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===''Kre-O'' comic===
[[File:KreO-webcomic-5-Deathsaurus.jpg|100px|thumb]]
Deathsaurus was part of a massive Decepticon invasion force intended to ruin the Autobots' picnic. However, [[Optimus Prime (Kre-O)|Optimus Prime]] plowed through them with his truck and left them scattered... and then left. Returning to the scene after.. ''ahem'', taking care of some pressing business, Optimus gathered up the still-wiped-out Kreons, bound them up on a flatbed trailer, and took them to the picnic. {{storylink|Emergency! Hurry to the Base, Optimus!}}
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===IDW Generation 1 continuity===
[[File:PermanentRevolution-Deathsaurus.jpg|thumb|His twisted twin obsessions are global domination and the provision of exceptional pension plans to all employees.]]
Deathsaurus was born a [[Decepticon]] during the [[Great War (G1)|Great War]]. He enjoyed a successful career [[Eco-structuring|cyberforming]] planets, but grew tired of [[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]]'s seeming apathy towards the well-being of his troops. Eventually, Deathsaurus broke away from his command and, using a stolen [[Warworld]], led a contingent of his own troops to ravage worlds. Deathsaurus's betrayal placed him on the [[Decepticon Justice Division]]'s [[The List|List]].

When the DJD eventually came, albeit to offer a deal, a disbelieving Deathsaurus tried to preemptively blow up [[Tarn (DJD)|Tarn]]. Deathsaurus switched off his audio receptors to avoid Tarn's weaponized conversation—but Tarn tapped into the Warworld's [[inter-Decepticon radio]] and bought enough time to offer Deathsaurus a deal: join the DJD in preserving the Decepticon dream and eliminating the then-[[Autobot]] Megatron, in exchange for removing his and his soldiers' names from the List. As a condition, Deathsaurus told Tarn to slay the other members of the DJD as payback for all their past victims, and Tarn refused... which was all Deathsaurus needed to see. Satisfied that his test had proven that Tarn was not so callous about his soldiers' lives as Megatron had been, Deathsaurus agreed to join forces. {{storylink|The Permanent Revolution}}

Months later, the Decepticons ambushed Megatron and his Auto-chums at the [[Censere|Necrobot]]'s [[Necroworld|planet]] {{storylink|The Dying of the Light: (1) How Bright Their Frail Deeds|How Bright Their Frail Deeds}} but, under Tarn's command, they backed off to return at sunset. While being shown Tarn's collection of literary miner corpses (and professing ignorance of early rebel [[Terminus (G1)|Terminus]]), Deathsaurus expressed his troops' frustration that they hadn't just ''killed'' the enemy already. Tarn told him this was an act of psychological torture. Later, he joined the Division in discussing how best to make the final assault. {{storylink|The Dying of the Light Part 2: The Sun in Flight|The Sun in Flight}} When Tarn appeared with [[Overlord (Masterforce)|Overlord]] in tow, Deathsaurus was more than surprised. Overlord immediately started trying to put him off, until he was shut down by [[Kaon (DJD)|Kaon]]'s death. {{storylink|The Dying of the Light Part 3: Your Fierce Tears|Your Fierce Tears}} [[Image:Tarn's library.jpg|thumb|250px|left|I prefer moleskins.]] Along with the rest of the army, Deathsaurus amassed outside the fortress. {{storylink|The Dying of the Light Part 4: At Close of Day|At Close of Day}} In the following battle, Deathsaurus noticed the vigor the Autobots were fighting with and when Megatron arrived, he commented on the fact that Megatron found his fire. Despite the fact that Megatron was decimating his men, Deathsaurus reluctantly followed Tarn's order to send all his troops at Megatron. A well placed shot from Nickel neutralised him, and the three generals gathered round the ex-Decepticon and opened fire. {{storylink|The Dying of the Light Part 5: Rage, Rage|Rage, Rage}}

At that very moment Megatron activated a panic shield, deflecting their blasts. A psychic attack gave Deathsaurus a moment of conscience, and seeing the deaths of his troop he was responsible for, withdrew his forces from the [[Necroworld]]. {{storylink|The Dying of the Light Part 6: Do Not Go Gentle|Do Not Go Gentle}}
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==Games==
===''Transformers Ultimate Allstars''===
{{Charstubgames}}
===''Transformers: Earth Wars''===
[[file:DeathsaurusEarthWars.jpg|thumb|upright=1.75|RAAAR!! I am the embodiment of death! The Emperor of Destruction! Fear me! ... Where'd my Breastforce partner go anyways?]]
A tyrant and despot - more than often a rogue one - who can rival Megatron, Deathsaurus wields a deadly spiked flail, a destructive energon sword, and a Living-Metal Destroying cannon. {{storylink|Transformers: Earth Wars|Deathsaurus Bio}}

Deathsaurus was on his usual en route to conquer and oppress when [[Star Saber (Victory)#Transformers: Earth Wars|Star Saber]] engaged him in a mid-space duel. He ended up trapped and frozen in his own Planet-Destroying Fortress, much to his amusement. {{storylink|Transformers: Earth Wars|Deathsaurus Research}}

When the Decepticons were attempting to breach the inner sanctum of a Deception Fortress in the Arctic, they found Deathsaurus guarding it. He declared that "the universe is arena, and Autobots and Decepticons alike are merely contestants." His appearance scared away Brawl and Starscream. To Starscream's retreat he replied, "Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste death but once!" before returning back into the fortress's halls. {{storylink|Transformers: Earth Wars|Arctic Saga - What Lies Beneath}}

The Decepticons soon re-approached him, this time with Megatron and the Constructicons.

Megatron attempted to order Deathsaurus to activate the fortress, intending for them to conquer Earth together. But Deathsaurus replied that Megatron overvalues his contribution and worth, and walks away. He then overloaded the energy levels of his fortress, initiating its self-destruction. He then started laughing maniacally, while the rest of the Decepticons and Autobots in the fortress evacuated. {{storylink|Transformers: Earth Wars|Arctic Saga - The Monster Within}}

After joining the other Decepticons through the Spacebridge, he had Starscream to help him find his Living Metal-Destroying Cannon and his flail that he lost somewhere in the Arctic Circle. He did not get Starscream's sarcastic remark that he wanted a scratch on the back in return.

During their search, Deathsaurus admitted that he had lost his cannon quite a few times. Starscream then asked if he has something like a car beeper. At first Deathsaurus was surprised, but then intrigued and wanted to know more.

Soon he encountered Star Saber, and Star Saber immediately assumed he was after Earth and challenged him to a duel. Starscream upon seeing the Autobots took off, and Star Saber's companions left him to let them settle their "legendary" battle. {{storylink|Transformers: Earth Wars|Deathsaurus Research}}

*'''Class:''' Special
*'''Lowest Star Rating:''' 2 star
*'''Weapons''': He uses a sword to chop up and destroy his foes, and a shield to bash them!
*'''Ability: Blazing Storm''': Rush in, spreading electrical fire in a large radius. All targets in the radius are disabled for 6 seconds (even Shock Towers!), and take some damage.
**'''Cost''': ''12'' ability points + 3 for reuses.

[http://wiki.transformersearthwars.com/character:deathsaurus| Deathsaurus at Transformers: Earth Wars Wiki]

==Toys==
===Victory===
[[File:Deathsaurus g1toy.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|"Aaawrk! Deathy shouldn't be!"]]
*'''Deszaras''' {{sic}} (Large Breastforce, 1989)
**''Japanese ID number'': '''D-336'''
**''Accessories'': Tail/shield, rifle, Tigerbreast & Eaglebreast "Breast Animals"
:"Deszaras" transforms into a blue and grey dragon-like monster styled after traditional Japanese "kaijū"--though he also looks somewhat like a giant mutant space chicken, and in fact the animators would play up the bird-like features significantly more than the reptilian aspects in the cartoon. Unusual for late Generation 1 toys, he has [[die-cast]]-metal feet in [[beast mode]].

:Deathsaurus comes packaged with his Breast Animal partners, Tigerbreast and Eaglebreast, which transform from creatures into hand-held weapons for Deathsaurus, and a pair of breastplates which lock into a spring-loaded socket on the toy's body to form elaborate torso armor for the Deathsaurus's [[robot mode]]. Eaglebreast is inserted first, then Tigerbreast fits on top, concealing it; the figures can also be attached while Deathsaurus is in beast mode, which leaves them on his creature mode's back. Deathsaurus comes with armament in addition to his Breast Animals, including a light blue laser rifle—which, despite what the boxart and cartoon would have you believe, does not have a removable flail—that can be wielded by both an ordinary handle, and a second peg on its butt that allows it to be brandished like a staff or blade of some kind, and his "Death Tailer" shield, which mounts on either of his biceps, and transforms into his beast mode tail.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1989/Destron/Deathsaurus/deathsaurus.htm More information on Deathsaurus at TFU.info]''
{{-}}

===Timelines===
[[File:Deathsaurusbotcontoy.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|If you squint, he could still be [[Megatron (RID)|Megatron]].]]
*'''Descent into Evil''' (multi-pack, 2005)
**''Accessories'': 2 launchers, 2 Energon blade missiles

: Part of the [[BotCon 2005]] "Descent into Evil" boxset, Deathsaurus is a blue and black [[retool]] of [[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 toyline)|2001 ''Robots in Disguise'']] [[Megatron (RID)|Megatron/Galvatron]]. He comes with a pair of swords that can launch their blade-missiles through a pressure-launch mechanism, as well as combine at their bottom ends to form a large double-blade weapon. The blade-missiles are rounded off [[for safety reasons]] like the other [[Hasbro]] uses of the mold. His head is a new sculpt based on Deathsaurus's appearance in the ''Victory'' anime (though Deathsaurus's face seems to be copied from Megatron's).

:Deathsaurus's mold was originally a ten-changer, though the "gargoyle"/bat mode was neutered for this release due to the dropping of the bat snout piece, required to give his new head enough space inside his chest cavity for other modes. He still retains the other nine modes (robot, dragster, jet, [[Popular beast alternate modes|two-headed dragon]], hand, mammoth, hydrofoil, one-headed dragon, and winged griffin). His instructions, however, assign him the six modes of the original RID Megatron, ''including'' the gargoyle and omitting the boat, griffin, mammoth and flying dragon. His tail-piece was removed for in-box storage, but easily popped back on since it's on a ball-and-socket joint.

:Eleven years later, he was retooled again into [[BotCon 2016]]'s ''[[Combiner Wars (toyline)|Combiner Wars]]'' [[Megatron (BW)/toys#Combiner Wars|Megatron]].

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2005/Decepticon/BCDeathsaurus/deathsaurus.htm More information on BotCon Deathsaurus at TFU.info]''
{{--}}

===Generations===
[[File:TF-Platinum-Edition-Combiner-Wars-Deszarus.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb]]
*'''Liokaiser''' (Platinum Edition giftset, 2016)
**''Accessories'': 2 pairs of Weapon/Combiner extremities (both white & dark gray), 2 Sword-rifles, 2 pairs of double-barreled guns (both white & dark gray), Ironbison's Tank cannon/gun, Drillhorn's Drill-gun, Ion Scythe

:Released as part of the ''[[Transformers: Platinum Edition|Platinum Edition]]'' [[Liokaiser#Platinum Edition|Liokaiser]] giftset, "Dezarus" is a redeco/retool of ''[[Combiner Wars (toyline)|Combiner Wars]]'' Voyager Class [[Sky Lynx (G1)#Generations|Sky Lynx]], transforming from a winged dinosaur thing into a space shuttle. His dino head/shuttle nose has been retooled with new eyes and a new fin, and colored to resembled the original Deathsaurus's beast mode head. His torso mode's combiner head has also been retooled, now sporting a new Liokaiser face beneath its feline helmet. The rest of his deco, meanwhile, mostly draws from Leozack and Jallguar, whom he replaces as Liokaiser's torso. As a ''Combiner Wars'' Voyager Class figure, he is able to combine with any Deluxe Class toys released as part of the same subline but is, of course, intended to be combined with his pack-in [[Breastforce|Destron]]s to form Liokaiser.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2016/Decepticon/CWDezarus/dezarus.htm More information on ''Platinum Edition'' Dezarus at TFU.info]''
{{-}}

==Merchandise==
===Transformers Gum===
[[File:Tfgum deszaras.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4]]
*'''Deathsaurus''' (1989)
**''Accessories:'' Tail/shield, rifle

:Part of the twelfth wave of [[Kabaya]]'s ''[[Transformers Gum]]'' series of [[candy toy]]s, this Deathsaurus figure is a snap-together model kit cast in blue, red, and grey plastic. Although lacking in any paint applications, the figure feature stickers for detail, and retains most of the accessories and features of the actual Deathsaurus toy, though not his Breast Animal partners. It comes with a stick of something that might be gum.
{{-}}

{{anchor|2012}}
[[File:KabayaGumDeathsaurus.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4]]
*'''Deathsaurus''' (2012)
**''Accessories:'' Tail/shield, rifle, Tigerbreast, Eaglebreast

:Part of the fifth wave of the "modern" revival of the Transformers Gum series, Deathsaurus once again makes an appearance as a snap-together transforming model kit with stickered detail. It is an entirely new mold featuring much better color-matching with the full-scale toy. Uniquely, this version also incorporates his transformable Breast Animal partners - though they are actually sold separately, with [[Tigerbreast#Transformers Gum|Tigerbreast]] packed in with [[Optimus Prime (WFC)#Transformers Gum|''War for Cybertron'' Optimus Prime]] and [[Eaglebreast#Transformers Gum|Eaglebreast]] included with [[Hot Spot (G1)#Transformers Gum|Hot Spot]].
{{-}}

===Parody Deformed===
[[File:Deathsaurus pd model.jpg|thumb|upright=0.85]]
*'''Deathsaurus''' (1990)

:A small, blue, white and red, non-transforming [[super deformed]] model kit of Deathsaurus was available as part of [[Kabaya]]'s "[[Parody Deformed]]" line of candy toys. The fourth figure in the series, he came with a "[[Transformers PD Type]]" comic about himself, "Good Job! Deathsaurus!!", and more of that alleged "gum".
{{-}}

===Super Figure Collection===
[[File:Deathsaurus scfs.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Take it all off!]]
*'''Deathsaurus''' (2002)
:A PVC figurine of Deathsaurus was released in the seventh Victory-centric "act" of Takara's ''[[Heroes of Cybertron|Super Collection Figure]].'' Deathsaururs was available in both standard full-color version and metallic silver "pewter" versions; the pewter version came packaged with the wings of Victory Saber, one of several extra pieces packed with the various figures from the wave which could combine with the act's Star Saber figure to turn it into Victory Saber. The wings were available in both standard full color (at a rate of eight out of every ten cases) and rare pewter (only two in every ten).

*'''Deathsaurus with Eaglebreast''' (2002)
:Also available in the seventh wave was a rare "chase" version of the Deathsaurus PVC, available at a rate of one in every ten cases, featuring the character with his inner Breast Animal partner, Eaglebreast, on display, rather than the normal version's Tigerbreast.
{{-}}
===Timelines===
[[File:Deathsauruspin.jpg|thumb|75px|Deathstickus]]

*'''Deathsaurus pin''' (2005)

: The first 100 BotCon 2005 Primus-package preregistrants received an exclusive Deathsaurus pin as part of their registration package.
{{--}}
===Robot Heroes===
[[File:Robot Heroes Victory Saber Dessaras.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67|The face that launch'd a thousand ships.]]
*'''Victory Saber''' / '''Dessaras''' (unreleased)

:A surprise entry in the ''[[Robot Heroes (toyline)|Robot Heroes]]'' series, this [[super deformed]] figurine of Deathsaurus also sports a name variant that hearkens back to his original Japanese moniker, only missing the spelling by one letter. Originally discovered amongst [[Walmart]] store computer listings in mid-2008, he would have come packaged with an equally-adorable Victory Saber, but alas, the two-pack failed to materialize before the ''Robot Heroes'' line was canceled.
{{canceledtoy}}

{{--}}

==Notes==
[[File:DeathsaurusAndRedGeist.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Definitely not toy-accurate, but definitely awesome.]]

*While often called a [[dragon]] or occasionally a [[griffin]], and hilariously, a "bigbird" on his original Japanese [[bio]] card, Deathsaurus is most likely styled after traditional Japanese "kaijū", such as [[Godzilla]] or Rodan.
*The original Deathsaurus mold was redecoed into the non-living "Red Geist" (レッドガイスト ''Reddo Gaisuto'') mech for [[TakaraTomy|Takara]]'s ''[[Brave (franchise)|Brave of Legend Da Garn]]'' toyline, which lacked the Eaglebreast partner. Although the character design in the television show for the line was significantly modified from that of Deathsaurus (see image at right), including replacing Tigerbreast's tiger mode with a jet mode, the Red Geist toy itself was not retooled. [http://tfbaka.de-blog.jp/1dai/2008/08/post_6871.html More on Red Geist at a Japanese toy photoblog.]
*Like all non-toy robot Kreons in the ''Kre-O'' comics, Deathsaurus is made from existing ''Kre-O'' parts. He uses the [[Inferno (Kre-O)|Inferno]] helmet, the [[Starscream (Kre-O)|Starscream]] wing-pack, a thick rifle, a 2x4 "wing" plate attached (somehow) to his arm to replicate the tail-shield... and then there's his chestplate. The plate itself is a 1x1 plate with twin bars and a pair of Starscream arm-guns attached... but it's "connected" to a 2x2 harness piece, which can only be done by adding a 1x2 center-peg plate in between them which is kind of unnecessary since there's a 1x1 harness piece that will do the job nicely, no middle-brick required.

===His stupid name===
Deathsaurus's name is the source of a long-lasting argument. The phonetic Japanese reading of the name is: "Desuzarasu". This is represented in English on his toy packaging and tech specs as "Deszaras." English-speaking fans would long debate the "proper" [[romanization]] of the name, interpreting it as Deszaras, Deathzaras, Deathsaurus, Death Czarus, Death Czaras, and many others. "Deathsaurus" had a tendency to be the most popular and well-known (on account of it actually ''meaning'' something), which led to it being used on the character's first Western toy in 2005, making it his official American name.

At [[BotCon 2015]], after ''decades'' of such back-and-forths, the designer of the original toy, [[Kōjin Ōno]], confirmed that the name was indeed always supposed to have been "Deathsaurus"… during a panel presentation that rendered the name as "Dethzarasu". It is anyone's guess as to why the original Japanese lettering did not read "saurusu" or "zaurusu," as had already been done with [[Trypticon (G1)|Dinosaurer]] and [[Saur]], rather than "zarasu". As such, in the years before that revelation was made clear, the character had continued to be called "Deszaras" on the [[Metrodome]] and [[Madman Entertainment]] DVD boxsets of the ''Victory'' cartoon.

At one point Hasbro appeared to be trying to steer things back in that direction with the cancelled [[Robot Heroes (toyline)|Robot Heroes]] figure, named "Dessaras". Only one letter off, there, guys! When Hasbro introduced ''Combiner Wars'' [[Liokaiser#Generations|Liokaiser]], they used the spelling "Dezarus".

===Foreign names===
*''Arabic:'' '''Deathsandar''' (دثساندر ''Dithsāndar'')
*''English:'' '''Deathsanras''' ([[Omni Productions]] dub)
*''Mandarin:'' '''Shènglā''' (Taiwan, 盛拉), '''Dà Kǒnglóng Sàlāsī''' (China, 大恐龙萨拉斯, "Big Dinosaur Saras")
*''Russian:'' '''Smertonosets''' (Смертоносец, "Death bringer")
*''Spanish:'' '''Zan Rás''' (America)
*''Ukrainian:'' '''Smertelnyi Sanraz''' (Смертельний Санраз)

[[Category:Beast Wars Decepticons]]
[[Category:BotCon exclusives]]
[[Category:Breastforce]]
[[Category:Candy toys]]
[[Category:Combiner Wars]]
[[Category:Decepticon leaders]]
[[Category:Dreamwave Generation 1 Transformers]]
[[Category:Emperors]]
[[Category:Generation 1 Decepticons]]
[[Category:IDW Generation 1 Decepticons]]
[[Category:Kre-O Decepticons]]
[[Category:Kreons]]
[[Category:Platinum Edition]]
[[Category:Timelines characters]]
[[Category:Wings Universe Decepticons]]

Straxus (G1)

2017-04-26T00:46:38Z

7Crimsonified7: /* United EX */

{{factions|decepticon}}
{{disambigm|Straxus (disambiguation)|Darkmount (disambiguation)}}
:''Straxus is a [[Decepticon]] from the [[Generation 1 continuity family|Generation 1]] [[continuity family]].''
[[File:Straxus.jpg|upright=1.95|thumb|Mercy is not dispensed here, fools, only Pez.]]
A ruthless, fearmongering dictator, Lord High Governor '''Straxus''' is a threat to all under his rule—including his own inner circle. From his throne in [[Darkmount (Cybertron)|Darkmount]], there are none in [[Polyhex]] who do not feel his crushing influence. Straxus's word is law, unbound by reason or facts, and can and will change from thought to thought. Do not try to appeal to his sense of pity; he has none.

A brutal powerhouse, he is more than able to enforce his policies, usually with a deadly blow from his battle axe. So terrible is Straxus that even [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]] gives the dictator his space, allowing the small-minded tyrant to terrorize his corner of the globe. Megatron may have designs on the galaxy, but in Polyhex, Straxus rules.

He is sometimes known as '''Darkmount'''. After his conversion to [[Power Core Combination]] technology, he took the code name '''Rollermaster'''. In this new form, he commands a [[Targetmaster (technology)|Targetmaster]] partner with the [[Spanner (G1)|familiar]] name of [[Spanner (United)|Spanner]].

{{quote|'''Mercy''' is not dispensed here, fools... only '''death!'''|Straxus|"[[The Smelting Pool!]]"}}

==Fiction==
===Marvel Comics continuity===
====Marvel ''The Transformers'' comics====
{{noteukonly}}
[[File:Straxusholdscourt.jpg|left|upright=1.66|thumb|He's got a metal palm tree and he's not afraid to use it!]]
''Following the assassination of the Decepticon warlord [[Trannis]] by the [[Autobot]] commando unit, the [[Wrecker]]s, Straxus assumed his position as [[Decepticon leader]] on Cybertron.'' {{storylink|Cybertron: The Middle Years!}}

Straxus would oversee a horrifically brutal reign, having his men hunt down [[neutral]]s, Autobots, and [[empty|the destitute]] so they could be melted down in [[smelting pool]]s and their metal reused by the Decepticons. Even other Decepticons weren't safe from his brutality, with him battering his own Executive Officer [[Shrapnel (G1)|Shrapnel]] when he was in a mood.

When a Decepticon transmission beamed from the planet [[Earth]] circa the Earth year [[1985]] reached Cybertron, Straxus immediately arranged for the capture of the scientist [[Spanner (G1)|Spanner]] so that a [[space bridge]] between the worlds could be constructed. Attempting to locate Spanner, the Autobot spy [[Scrounge (G1)|Scrounge]] learned of this plot, but was captured by [[Shrapnel (G1)|Shrapnel]] and brought before Straxus, who maliciously destroyed his unique recording-device arm before consigning him to death in the [[smelting pool]]s. In turn, [[Blaster (G1)|Blaster]] came searching for Scrounge (against orders), was captured and brought before Straxus, and sentenced to the pools. There he discovered the dying Scrounge, was given the information he had acquired, and escaped with the aid of his Autobot friends who had come looking for him (against orders). {{storylink|The Smelting Pool!}}

[[File:Straxusaltmode.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|Yeah, but where does the axe go?]]The space bridge was subsequently completed, but its earliest tests reduced Straxus to rage when a malfunction caused the death of [[Crosscut (Decepticon)|Crosscut]], and he sent [[Crosscut's successor|another unfortunate]] to instant death in an attempt to figure out what had gone wrong. In an act of petty brutality, he threatened Shrapnel that he better sort the problem out soon because ''he'' was going to be sent to clear the rubbish off the Bridge! As the tests went on, an Autobot raiding party planted explosives within Darkmount, destroying it, and sending an enraged Straxus after their heads. With the bridge unattended, Blaster intended to destroy it, but was confronted by Straxus in a one-on-one duel. Crippling Blaster with his axe, Straxus was duped into accidentally severing the bridge's fuel line, destabilizing its teleporting arch, through which Blaster then kicked Straxus, destroying him. {{storylink|The Bridge to Nowhere!}}

[[File:Straxushead.jpg|left|thumb|Teletraan I, Rita's escaped, recruit a team of teenagers with attitude...no, er wait...]]
''However, while Straxus's body was reduced to ash, his head was salvaged and placed in a life-support pod that allowed him to continue on in his position as leader.'' {{storylink|...The Harder They Die!}} ''Soon after, when [[Megatron (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Megatron]] arrived on Cybertron, Straxus immediately set in motion a scheme to restore himself to life, calmly following Megatron's directions to hunt down [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Optimus Prime]], who had arrived on the planet with him. ''{{storylink|Under Fire!}} {{storylink|Distant Thunder!}} ''After Prime carried out [[Decepticon fuel store|several successful raids]] alongside the Wreckers, Megatron began to grow more and more unstable, and Straxus more and more impatient with his deranged houseguest. Despite the warnings of his technicians as to the "unpredictability" of the machinery involved, Straxus made the final step, activating a device that would exchange his and Megatron's minds, giving him a body once more. Megatron resisted the transfer, however, leaving the two minds within Megatron's body, fighting for dominance, each one in control at a different moment. The other Decepticons, in particular [[Ratbat (G1)|Ratbat]], soon noticed their leader's problems and began to scheme about how to handle it. When in battle with Prime and [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Ultra Magnus]], Megatron prepared to unleash his destructive [[antimatter]] powers; in order to save the [[Polyhex Decepticon stronghold]], Ratbat activated the space bridge, teleporting the three Transformers back to [[Earth]].'' {{storylink|Resurrection!}}

[[File:Maulers mauled.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|This story is full of awesome Megatron moments and Straxus retroactively stole them all. He ''is'' evil!]]
''Before this could occur, having failed to oust Megatron's mind, Straxus activated his contingency plan, "[[Project Re-Birth]]," and his consciousness fled into a body he had specially prepared—a duplicate of Megatron created from a "[[Archforce|hapless trooper]]", complete with a copy of his brain patterns, beneath which Straxus's personality lay dormant. '' {{storylink|Two Megatrons!}}'' Upon hearing of the true Megatron's seeming death aboard the space bridge a short time later, the project technicians activated the clone, sending it to the sewers beneath [[London]] where it came into conflict with a small group of Autobots, [[Action Force (team)|Action Force]] and [[Centurion (Marvel)|Centurion]]. Straxus's mind had yet to take over the clone at this point, and it genuinely believed itself to be the true Megatron, but it was soon dealt with when an oil tank explosion sent it and Centurion tumbling into the [[Thames|River Thames]].'' {{storylink|Ancient Relics!}}

''Some time later, seeking a weapon to use against the deranged future Decepticon [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]], [[Shockwave (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Shockwave]] recovered the Megatron clone, also believing it to be the genuine article, only to find that "Megatron"'s mind had retreated into itself. Shockwave subjected the clone to the [[psycho-probe]], intending to force "Megatron" to face his fears—but instead, Straxus emerged, intending to fight Megatron's fears for him and finally take control of the body. Megatron fought back, however, ripping the mental image of Straxus to pieces and finally taking over their shared mind.'' {{storylink|Salvage!}}

[[File:Megatron wreckers time wars.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.67|"NOW, WITNESS THE '''MOST POWERFUL SQUAT OF ALL TIME!'''"]]
''After being thoroughly reprogrammed by Shockwave, this Megatron killed [[Cyclonus (G1)|Cyclonus]] in a test run'' {{storylink|Dry Run!}} ''and then proceeded to battle Galvatron. He ceased his attack after hearing from the future Decepticon that: a) Starscream would throw him out a ship in 2006, and b) Galvatron would kill him. Amused and seeing the two had a lot in common, Megatron agreed to join him.'' {{storylink|Altered Image!}} ''He helped Galvatron battle Autobots of the present and future in the "[[Time Wars]]", massacring [[Wrecker]]s and the [[Mayhem Attack Squad]], but was soon put off by the growing madness and pointless destruction that his ally was causing. The Megatron clone opted instead to [[Decepticon heavy transport|return]] to Cybertron.'' {{storylink|Time Wars}}

''He was taken aback to find his homeworld so different from what he remembered it as; Autobots were wandering about, unafraid and undisturbed by the planet's Decepticon presence, even in [[Helex (polity)|Helex]], the Decepticon capital. Vowing to retake control of Cybertron, Megatron quickly dispatched a would-be Autobot assassin and sought out those responsible for the Decepticons' sorry state. He discovered that their current commanders, [[Legonis]], [[Octus (G1)|Octus]] and [[Seizer]], were leading an idle life, enjoying gladiatorial battles while lounging about and drinking high-grade oil. The [[Triumvirate]] nearly goaded Megatron into attacking them in order to have their troops kill him in retaliation, but Megatron saw through their ruse. Growing desperate to rid themselves of the challenger, Seizer shoved Megatron down in the arena to have his gladiators deal with him, but once more Megatron retained his cool. With an eloquent speech, pointing out how far the Decepticons had fallen from their former glory, Megatron effortlessly dethroned the decadent ruling trio by turning their soldiers against them. The Triumvate was destroyed, and Megatron took control of the Decepticons on the planet once more... ruling confident in the knowledge he'd become Galvatron, and ''this'' time he'd do things ''right''!'' {{storylink|The Fall and Rise of the Decepticon Empire.}}

[[File:TFUK TwoMegatrons Suicide.JPG|upright=0.85|thumb|No, no! Aim away from the face!]]
''Soon, however, he began to suffer from nightmarish visions of the lives lived by both the trooper whose body became his, and of Straxus, just as the true Megatron—having recovered his memories after a period of wandering amensia in the [[Dead End (place)|Dead End]]—attacked his base.'' {{storylink|Mind Games}}'' The two Megatrons battled, with the true one revealed the clone's nature to him, and all at once, everything made sense to the clone. Along with this revelation, another immediately arose—Straxus's mental defeat was a sham, and he had been dwelling within the clone's mind all along, steadily growing in power as the clone weakened. Straxus made one final attempt to seize control of their mind, and the clone committed suicide, blowing his own head off with his [[fusion cannon]], rather than allow Straxus to win.'' {{storylink|Two Megatrons!}}

''It is possible that in the original un-altered pre-Time Wars timeline, the Straxus-Megatron clone may have been the Megatron transformed into Galvatron, but the shifting nature of the timelines makes this open to debate at best.''

''All very simple, isn't it?''

{{note|The true nature of the Megatron clone was not revealed until the story which depicted his death. This was because, for all of the clone's other stories, he was regarded by characters, readers and writer [[Simon Furman]] as actually being the ''real'' Megatron, having survived his supposed death in the US comics. The US comics, however, continued to treat Megatron as pushing up daisies, so when Simon Furman took over writing that title and penned Megatron's return, he needed an explanation that would reconcile Megatron's continual appearances in the UK title with his lack of activity in the US. Relegating the Megatron of the UK comics to a clone was that explanation, revealed in UK-exclusive strips which ran concurrently with the reprints of Megatron's US return.}}

=====Trigger-Happy!=====
The madness that had gripped the Megatron clone for so long began to subside, as the full ramifications of meeting his future self dawned on him. Foreknowledge that he would one day become Galvatron emboldened Megatron, and left him believing that he was invincible until such events came to pass. He still had to contend with [[Scorponok (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Scorponok]]'s rogue faction however, though an opportunity to gain an upper hand against his rival soon presented itself. Megatron received word from [[Crankcase (G1)|Crankcase]] and [[Ruckus (G1)|Ruckus]] that they had acquired battle plans drafted by Scorponok, and set up a meeting to receive the documents. Though the messengers were nearly intercepted by an Autobot ambush, they evaded capture thanks to [[Backstreet (G1)|Backstreet]] botching the sting. Afterwards, Megatron learned that Backstreet had gone on the run from Autobot justice, and saw an opportunity to capitalize on the situation. Backstreet had accidentally endangered several humans before fleeing, and Megatron plotted to make the fugitive into a pariah; through him, humans might be led to believe that all Autobots meant them harm. Megatron would turn the locals against Optimus's forces, and eliminate them too once the Autobots had fallen. An altercation between Backstreet and a human military convoy only served to further Megatron's goals.

It was [[Spinister (G1)|Spinister]] who eventually tracked down Backstreet, then squatting in an abandoned amusement park. Megatron ordered his troops to stand back so that he might approach Backstreet himself, and "recruit" him to the Decepticons. But upon his arrival, Megatron found that both [[Scoop (G1)#Trigger-Happy!|Scoop]] and Spinister had disregarded his orders and were in the process of roughing up the Autobot. Outraged, Megatron tossed aside both his minions and ordered them away. Then, in his best attempt to appear sincere, Megatron extended a hand in friendship towards Backstreet, promising him protection and a privileged position in the Decepticon hierarchy. Despite Megatron's best efforts, Backstreet saw through his charade, and turned down the offer. Abandoning all attempts at subtlety, Megatron readied to strike Backstreet dead when Optimus Prime barged in on the scene.

Megatron ordered his troops to remain in position, declaring the honor of killing Prime to be his alone. He nearly succeeded in his attempt too, only for Backstreet to regain his senses upon hearing that his commander was willing to take him back despite his past mistakes. Megatron was knocked out, and only regained consciousness in time to see the Autobots slipping away. {{storylink|Trigger-Happy!}}

=====Marvel UK future timelines=====
The Megatron clone would terrify a young Hot Rod in [[1990]] by willingly risking the lives of loyal Decepticons to flush out a [[Warmonger|double-agent]], and then muse it would've been easier to just murder everyone. Later, he would wage a [[Decepticon Civil War]] against [[Shockwave (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Shockwave]] and Scorponok. {{storylink|Aspects of Evil!}}

He then become Galvatron by [[2006]] and, by not fleeing to Earth's past, conquered Cybertron! Well, it seems to be him, it's very confusing. If it was him, he then got stepped on by [[Unicron]] in [[2010]]. {{storylink|Aspects of Evil!}}

====Marvel ''Generation 2'' comic====
[[File:WarWithoutEnd-Straxus.jpg|thumb|upright=0.85|His weapon gets less threatening with each appearance.]]
[[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]] referred to Straxus as one of the petty, small-minded dictators he left in charge of [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] when he left to start the [[Cybertronian (faction)|Cybertronian Empire]]. {{storylink|War Without End!}}
{{-}}

====''Classics''====
Decades after the death of Straxus, Blaster would tell of the evil Straxus to [[Primax -408.24 Epsilon|a mirror universe]]'s [[Straxus (SG)|good Straxus]]. {{storylink|Falling into Place}}

====Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity====
=====''United EX''=====
[[File:UnitedEX2 blazing alps.jpg|thumb|left|250px|"GAH! Don't look at me that way!"]]
Somehow traveling across universes,<ref name="EX">[http://www.allspark.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=89376&st=0&p=2149784&hl=straxus&#entry2149784 Post by ''United EX'' writer Hydra]: "My intent when writing the story was that he be the Straxus from the comics universe himself, appearing as a result of some teleportation or experimental technology, just as Thunderwing appeared in the United stories." This would later be solidified by [[Ask Vector Prime]].</ref> Straxus inserted himself into the alternate universe's Decepticons led by [[Scrash (OC)|Scrash]], becoming part of the [[Master Chaos]] in his pursuit of new technology. With his new body, he gained the new identity of "Rollermaster". {{storylink|#United EX 2|''United EX'' Straxus bio}}

Rollermaster revealed the existence of the Decepticon Master Chaos brigade to the Autobots when he attacked [[Blaze Master|Choppermaster]], who was training in the Swiss Alps. Rollermaster overrode the Autobot flyer's control of the PCC drones, achieving his own combination form. {{storylink|In the Blazing Alps}}

Rollermaster and Choppermaster fought to a standstill, but [[Onslaught (G1)|Combatmaster]] stepped in at the end and easily snatched up the drones from the wounded Autobot. {{storylink|Prelude to the Siege}}
{{-}}

=====Wars manga=====
[[File:Ultra Megatron head Straxus Metrowars.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4]]
Straxus eventually shed his Master Chaos identity and was appointed leader of a Decepticon force concentrated on [[Metrotitan (Zone)|Metrotitan]], whose base mode he dubbed "Darkmount" after his old haunts. Straxus somehow acquired a rebuilt and comatose [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ultra Megatron]], who he attempted to brainwash with his technology. When the Decepticon Emperor resisted, Straxus noted that more of such would crumble Megatron's "diabolical nature". In the meantime, he led an attack on [[Metroplex (G1)|Scramble City]], but the Decepticon forces fled when the Autobots showed the power of a newly-reborn [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]]. {{storylink|Metrowars}}

Following the failure of this attack, Straxus worked on repairing the wounded Metrotitan whilst simultaneously manipulating his thoughts and emotions. {{storylink|Metrowars 2}}

=====''Transformers Legends'' comic=====
To introduce the traits of of organic life to the next generation of [[Transformer]]s, Straxus performed experiments that created a new, hybrid form of Cybertronian, producing [[Convobat]] and [[Megalligator]]. {{storylink|Convobat#Legends|''Legends'' Convobat bio}}
{{-}}

===IDW Generation 1 continuity===
[[File:Straxusidw.jpg|left|upright=1.4|thumb|I may or may not be here in subsequent panels, depending on how the artist feels today.]]
Straxus of [[Yuss]] {{storylink|Shadowplay, Part 1: Post Hoc|Post Hoc}} (not a "Lord")<ref>[http://simonfurman.wordpress.com/2008/06/17/wheels-on-fire/#comment-3627 "WHEELS ON FIRE"—simon furman: the blog]</ref> was part of the crew of the first ''[[Ark (G1)|Ark]]'', which left Cybertron six million years ago. The ship was lost to the [[Dead Universe]], and Straxus and his crewmates became the living dead, unable to survive in their home universe for long periods of time. {{storylink|Spotlight: Cyclonus}} Despite this, however, an erroneous account placed Straxus on Cybertron two million years later, working security at the [[Kaon Security Headquarters]] just prior to the outbreak of the Autobot/Decepticon war. {{storylink|Megatron Origin issue 4|Megatron Origin #4}}

In the present day, [[Nightbeat (G1)|Nightbeat]] was abducted on [[Gorlam Prime]], Straxus implanted a device in his brain that would make him a sleeper agent for the Dead Universe crew.<ref>According to the [http://forum.idwpublishing.com/viewtopic.php?p=82441#82441 script] for "[[Spotlight: Hardhead]]".</ref> {{storylink|Spotlight: Nightbeat}}

[[File:SpotlightDoubledealer Straxus Transforms.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|And yet, surprisingly few kitbashes from Cybertron [[Sideways (Armada)#Cybertron|Sideways]]...]]
After [[Cyclonus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Cyclonus]] secured the [[Nega-Core]] and activated its guardian, Straxus initiated the [[Expansion]] with [[Nova Prime|Nemesis Prime]] and the rest of the Dead Universe crew. {{storylink|Spotlight: Cyclonus}}

Later, Straxus attacked Earth with [[Grindcore (G1)|Grindcore]]. His job was to bombard the surface in his jet mode and then operate an [[energon]] drill while Grindcore set up a [[space bridge]]. {{storylink|Spotlight: Doubledealer}}

Straxus and Grindcore soon had to defend this site when an Autobot team led by [[Fortress Maximus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Fortress Maximus]] stormed it, trying to prevent the Expansion. [[Sideswipe (G1)|Sideswipe]] ended up holding off both of them at the same time while the other Autobots slipped by. The [[Benzuli Expanse]] anomaly was soon sealed off, and unable to survive without their connection to the Dead Universe, both Straxus and Grindcore simply... ceased functioning. {{storylink|Spotlight: Sideswipe}}
{{-}}

===''Universe'' toy bios===
During Straxus's rule over Polyhex, he put a lowly, unknown warrior through an excruciating rebuilding process, tortuously reforging him into the very image of Optimus Prime. Through forcible data uploads and brainwashing, the Decepticon was imbued with memories and skills culled from many sources, giving him much of Optimus Prime's knowledge and combat algorithms. However, Straxus perished before he could complete this "[[Nemesis Prime (G1)|Nemesis Prime]]", and his creation was left without a framework with which to process the mental injections. Straxus's legacy was this mad wraith haunting the back alleys of Cybertron, hunting down Autobots and Decepticons alike.<ref>[http://tformers.net/g/albums/9893/DSCF2738.JPG Nemesis Prime's ''Universe Classic Series'' on-package bio]</ref>

===''Wings Universe''===
[[File:FierceFightingOnPlanetNebulos-StraxusDecepticons.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.1|...I was an unstoppable tyrannical warlord who answered to no one, once...]]
Straxus was one of a number of [[Decepticon Warlord]]s who fought for territory in the early days of the Great War. With the threat of the [[Cybertron Elite Guard]], the Warlords formed a war council. During one meeting, they reviewed footage of the Elite Guard wiping out some of [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]]'s men, and discussed ways of ridding themselves of the Elite Guard. At the next meeting of the council, [[Deathsaurus (Victory)|Deathsaurus]] sent along his lieutenant, [[Falcon (G1)|Falcon]], with a box containing an important message. The message turned out to be a bomb, which killed the council members present. {{storylink|A Team Effort}}

===''United''===
A [[nano-virus]] that afflicted most Autobots save the [[Targetmaster (technology)|Targetmasters]] and the [[Headmaster (technology)|Headmasters]] required [[Ricochet (Headmasters)|Ricochet]] to lead a team to [[Nebulos]] for an anti-virus. However, the nano-virus was merely a ploy by the Decepticons to draw out the Targetmasters and Headmasters to abduct their [[Nebulan]] partners, so when the Autobots arrived on Nebulos, Straxus was waiting for them with a considerable army! His army quickly fell into disarray, unfortunately, when Straxus was singled out and defeated. He returned to his [[Thunderwing (G1)|master]] to beg forgiveness. {{storylink|The Fierce Fighting on Planet Nebulos}}
{{-}}

===''Kre-O'' comic===
[[File:KreO-webcomic-5-Straxus.jpg|75px|thumb|]]
Straxus was part of a massive Decepticon invasion force intended to ruin the Autobots' picnic. However, [[Optimus Prime (Kre-O)|Optimus Prime]] plowed through them with his truck and left them scattered... and then left. Returning to the scene after.. ''ahem'', taking care of some pressing business, Optimus gathered up the still-wiped-out Kreons, bound them up on a flatbed trailer, and took them to the picnic. {{storylink|Emergency! Hurry to the Base, Optimus!}}
{{-}}

===''Transformers vs. G.I. Joe''===
Part of Megatron's inner circle, Straxus was present when [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]] delivered [[Bumblebee (G1)|Bumblebee]]'s head to the Decepticon leader. {{storylink|The Golden Boys}} He was giggling creepily to himself in a corner when [[Destro]] appeared before Megatron offering an alliance. {{storylink|Funeral for a Friend}} When the Decepticons withdrew from a battle without finishing the Autobots off, Straxus recognized that Megatron just wouldn't admit he'd sustained injuries in battle with [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]]. {{storylink|Everybody Hates Metroplex}}

===''TransTech''===
[[File:Kre-OStraxus-CMW.jpg|thumb|left|75px]]
When the [[Waruder]]s caused a blackout in [[Axiom Nexus]], a Kreon Straxus within the offworlder maximum security prison fought it out with his fellow inmates, particularly a Kreon [[Scrounge (G1)|Scrounge]]. {{storylink|Cybertron's Most Wanted}}

===Ask Vector Prime===
Pity the multiverse's [[Archforce]]s, for Straxuses surgically altered them to look like Megatron. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/08/10}}

In [[Primax 092.0 Beta]], [[Hyperdrive (Turbomaster)|Hyperdrive]] gathered as many Autobot survivors as he could and stormed Straxus's shipyards, commandeering the ''[[Iron Hope (G1)|Iron Hope]]'' and setting back the Decepticons' space infrastructure by hundreds of stellar cycles. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/07/16}}
{{-}}

===''Of Masters and Mayhem''===
Straxus developed a mental conditioning program which [[Loudpedal]] and [[Oil Slick (G1)|Oil Slick]] applied on [[Toxitron (G1)|Toxitron]]. {{storylink|The Toxic Transformer}}

==Games==
===''Transformers Legends''===
Straxus, [[Axer (G1)|Axer]], and [[Thunderwing (G1)|Thunderwing]] accompanied [[Nova Prime|Nemesis Prime]] on a mission to defeat Nemesis's former self, Nova Prime. {{storylink|Prime Evil}}

Straxus was part of a Decepticon raiding party that scoured a Human military base for the [[MacGuffin Generator]]. Straxus's job was to look in every building to check if it housed the generator, and reduce it to rubble if it didn't. The Decepticons eventually found the device, despite some Autobot interference, but it proved to be more volatile than they had anticipated. The Generator exploded, sending Straxus and the Decepticons flying off into the distance. {{storylink|Raiding Party}}

===''Transformers: Battle Tactics''===
[[File:BattleTacticsDarkmount.jpg|thumb|upright=1.6|{{w|Shredder (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)|SHREDDER!!}}]]
Darkmount participated in battles against a variety of opponents, both Autobots and Decepticons. Sometimes there were many of him! He was a Rare character who could be recruited after collecting 110 units of Cybermetal, 60 units of Transmetal, and 35 support cores. {{storylink|Transformers: Battle Tactics}}
{{--}}

==Toys==
===''Generations''===
[[File:Generationstoy-Darkmount.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|You're welcome.]]
*'''Darkmount''' (Deluxe, [[2010]])
**''Accessories'': Pick-axe/cannon, missile launcher, machine gun, smoke grenade launchers

:Part of wave 2 of ''[[Transformers: Generations|Generations]]'', Darkmount ("Straxus" was [[trademark|unavailable]]) transforms into a half-tracked [[Wikipedia:Self-propelled artillery|self-propelled artillery]] inspired by the [[Wikipedia:G6 howitzer|South African G6 Rhino]], as well as a tripod-mounted [[Wikipedia:Howitzer|howitzer]] platform called a "battle station".

:In vehicle mode, the turret can rotate and the barrel can raise. Initially it was planned to have him interact with Scout Class figures who could man his "fortress mode". The remainders of that idea are the otherwise pointless handlebars that end up on his knees in robot mode.<ref name="generations11">TakaraTomy staff interview in ''[[Transformers Generations 2011]]'' vol. 1, [http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-news-rumors/428825-takaratomy-staff-interview-generations-united.html translation at TFW2005].</ref> In robot mode, the cannon barrel becomes his trademark pick-axe weapon, while his smaller weapons (featuring [[C joint]]s) can clip onto various compatible rungs, bars and tubes sculpted onto the vehicle or robot. Despite his portly robot form, and his alternate half-track mode, his tech specs list his speed rank as 10.

:"M17" is written on his vehicle mode, referencing "[[The Smelting Pool!|Marvel #17]]", the comic issue in which Straxus first appeared. His head is designed with a light-piping feature but it is not utilized.

:The mold was [[redeco]]ed into ''[[Transformers Timelines (toyline)|Timelines]]''/''[[Transformers: Shattered Glass (toyline)|Shattered Glass]]'' [[Straxus (SG)#Timelines|The Bard of Darkmount]] and [[retool]]ed into ''Generations'' [[Skullgrin#Generations|Skullgrin]].

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2010/Decepticon/Darkmount/darkmount.htm More information on Darkmount at TFU.info]''
{{-}}

===''United''===
[[File:United Straxus Toy.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|TakaraTomy will collect the fee...''personally!'']]
*'''Straxus''' (Deluxe, 2010-[[December 25|12-25]])
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''UN-10'''
**''Accessories'': "Battle axe"/cannon, missile launcher, machine gun, smoke grenade launchers

:Darkmount was redecoed for inclusion in the first wave of [[TakaraTomy]]'s ''[[Transformers United|United]]'' toyline, and even released under his original name. He now sports a new color scheme that replaces much of his grey plastic and ''all'' of his red plastic with more dark blue and new light-blue pieces, apparently shooting to emulate Straxus as he was colored in his [[The Bridge to Nowhere!|second Marvel appearance]], drawing particular inspiration from the [[:File:MarvelUS-18.jpg|cover]] of the issue. And he's got his dead, black eyes!

:Besides the black eyes, Straxus features additional paint on his face as well as his crotch plate and knee flaps.
::*''[http://www.seibertron.com/transformers-toys/gallery/transformers-united/straxus/2799/1/ Image gallery of ''United'' Straxus at Seibertron.com]''
{{-}}

===''United EX''===
[[File:United-toy RollerMaster.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66]]
*'''Rollermaster vs Choppermaster''' (Vs pack, [[2012]]-[[September 22|09-22]])
**''ID number'': '''EX P1'''

:"Rollermaster" is a [[redeco]] of the ''[[Power Core Combiners]]'' [[Icepick (PCC)#Toys|Icepick]] toy, transforming into a treaded snow-plow vehicle of probably-made-up model. Unlike most ''Power Core Combiners'' Commander molds, Rollermaster does not have [[5mm post]] holes in or near his hands to allow him to use hand-held weapons. He has some sweet claws, though, and the hardpoint on his right shoulder allows him to use a Mini-Con's weapon mode as a shoulder-mounted emplacement. A flip-up [[Powerlinx]] socket on his chest allows him to use [[Mini-Con]]s as armor. He also has a secondary "Prime mode" configuration in which he forms a super robot torso; in this mode he can use the drone-limbs from any 5-pack set to make a new super-robot.

:He was only available in a set with [[Blaze Master#United EX 2|Choppermaster]], [[Spanner (United)|Spanner]], and [[Firebug (United)|Firebug]].
{{--}}

==Notes==
[[File:StraxusChangesColors.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|Consistency is not dispensed here, fools, only GAFFES!]]
*For some reason, Straxus's colors changed drastically between the two issues he was in for the US comic. Also, sometimes between panels.
*With that in mind, Darkmount's color scheme (with its red biceps and gold chest) is based on an amalgam of his appearances. Specifically, a unique color arrangement that appeared on the cover of the fan-publication "The Obscure Omnibus" that super-fan [[User:Monzo|Monzo]] gave the Transformers team for reference.
*Not only was Straxus's color scheme unstable, but so was his weapon design. In his first issue, it looked like a pick-axe, but when Straxus battled Blaster in his second issue, it had evolved into a scythe.
*"[[Two Megatrons!]]" means that Straxus was around but dormant when Ratbat was boss of Cybertron. Was he dormant for a proper reason or did Ratbat ''arrange it'' that way?
*So why "Darkmount" for the toy instead of the obviously-made-up "Straxus", theoretically easy to [[trademark]]? One possible explanation is that an Austrian company, [http://www.stadlbauer.at/74.0.html?&L=1 Stadlbauer], has owned "Strax" as an international registered trademark for toys since 1966, and applied to register the term in the United States [http://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=79069729&caseType=SERIAL_NO&searchType=statusSearch in 2009]. This would give Stadlbauer a solid legal hold on the term versus another company trying to use a sound-alike in the same field. While this unforeseen hitch may have necessitated Straxus's name-change, it's not like another company could get away with using "Optimusor Primeo", either...
**There is also a staxus.com website, which is '''''AMAZINGLY NOT SAFE FOR WORK''''', so... yeah. Remember "[[Nexus Prime|Nexus Maximus]]"? That kinda thing. So much that kinda thing. (This, of course, does make the move to "Darkmount" pretty funny in context.)
*According to Hasbro copy writer [[Forest Lee]], Straxus was mentioned in [[San Diego Comic-Con|Comic-Con]] 2008 [[Nemesis Prime (G1)|Nemesis Prime]]'s bio entirely to make [[David Willis]] happy. Incidentally, Willis colored the cover to the fan publication mentioned in the second note, so he's probably on Cloud Nine right now.
*Darkmount's instructions show [[Skullgrin]]'s robot head. It's [[Cliffjumper (WFC)|becoming]] [[Black Shadow (Victory)|a]] [[Axor|trend]].
*''Universe'' Nemesis Prime's backstory was certainly inspired by the Megatron-clone plot, but their relation to each other in-fiction is unclear. A straight reading would suggest that Straxus merely had more than one clone project in the works. However, if one assumes that the ''Classic Series'' bios are meant to follow the [[Hasbro Transformers Collectors' Club (magazine)|''Classics'' comic]], then Nemesis Prime would be Straxus's ONLY known clone project in his universe, since the UK comics are not part of that continuity. However, it wouldn't be the [[Mutant (G1)|first time]] a [[The 4,000,000 Year Itch!|UK-only plot thread]] managed to make it into a ''Classics''-related product...
*It's likely that [[Eric Holmes]] didn't consult with [[Simon Furman]] when he had Straxus as a cameo in ''[[The Transformers: Megatron Origin|Megatron Origin]]''. (Straxus must have been mentioned in the script, since he shows up in [http://mmatere.deviantart.com/art/Megatron-Origins-4-pag-02-80058403 Marcelo Matere's version of the page.]) Since he was never mentioned by name in ''Origin'', and he has a different design in the later Spotlights, it can be easily retconned that the character in ''Megatron Origin'' was [[Bluster|"Straxus's brother"]], since Straxus was supposedly in the Dead Universe at this time.
*Rollermaster's bio notes do not ''explicitly'' say he's Straxus, but... come on. Plus, the [[Andrew Hall|guy who wrote the bio and story and all that]] said he is.<ref name="EX" />
*Straxus in the online ''Kre-O'' comic is made from existing ''Kre-O'' parts. He uses [[Bumblebee (Kre-O)|Bumblebee]]'s helmet and a pair of scythe-weapons from the ''[[G.I. Joe (franchise)|G.I. Joe]] Kre-O'' sets.
*A proposed [[Fun Publications]] [[BotCon]] [[exclusive]] was a redeco of [[#Generations|''Generations'' Darkmount]] into [[Bombshell (G1)|Generation 1 Bombshell/Hardshell]].<ref>[http://www.toycollectors.com.au/bc14/bc14br.html BotCon 2014 attendee report]</ref>

===Foreign names===
*''Japanese:'' '''Straxus''' (ストラクサス ''Sutorakusasu'')

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Classics Decepticons]]
[[Category:Clones]]
[[Category:Dead Universe]]
[[Category:Decepticon leaders]]
[[Category:Generation 1 Decepticons]]
[[Category:Generations]]
[[Category:IDW Generation 1 Transformers]]
[[Category:Kre-O Decepticons]]
[[Category:Kreons]]
[[Category:Transformers with three modes]]
[[Category:TransTech Decepticons]]
[[Category:United Decepticons]]
[[Category:Wings Universe Decepticons]]

Straxus (G1)

2017-04-26T00:45:49Z

7Crimsonified7: /* Marvel The Transformers comics */

{{factions|decepticon}}
{{disambigm|Straxus (disambiguation)|Darkmount (disambiguation)}}
:''Straxus is a [[Decepticon]] from the [[Generation 1 continuity family|Generation 1]] [[continuity family]].''
[[File:Straxus.jpg|upright=1.95|thumb|Mercy is not dispensed here, fools, only Pez.]]
A ruthless, fearmongering dictator, Lord High Governor '''Straxus''' is a threat to all under his rule—including his own inner circle. From his throne in [[Darkmount (Cybertron)|Darkmount]], there are none in [[Polyhex]] who do not feel his crushing influence. Straxus's word is law, unbound by reason or facts, and can and will change from thought to thought. Do not try to appeal to his sense of pity; he has none.

A brutal powerhouse, he is more than able to enforce his policies, usually with a deadly blow from his battle axe. So terrible is Straxus that even [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]] gives the dictator his space, allowing the small-minded tyrant to terrorize his corner of the globe. Megatron may have designs on the galaxy, but in Polyhex, Straxus rules.

He is sometimes known as '''Darkmount'''. After his conversion to [[Power Core Combination]] technology, he took the code name '''Rollermaster'''. In this new form, he commands a [[Targetmaster (technology)|Targetmaster]] partner with the [[Spanner (G1)|familiar]] name of [[Spanner (United)|Spanner]].

{{quote|'''Mercy''' is not dispensed here, fools... only '''death!'''|Straxus|"[[The Smelting Pool!]]"}}

==Fiction==
===Marvel Comics continuity===
====Marvel ''The Transformers'' comics====
{{noteukonly}}
[[File:Straxusholdscourt.jpg|left|upright=1.66|thumb|He's got a metal palm tree and he's not afraid to use it!]]
''Following the assassination of the Decepticon warlord [[Trannis]] by the [[Autobot]] commando unit, the [[Wrecker]]s, Straxus assumed his position as [[Decepticon leader]] on Cybertron.'' {{storylink|Cybertron: The Middle Years!}}

Straxus would oversee a horrifically brutal reign, having his men hunt down [[neutral]]s, Autobots, and [[empty|the destitute]] so they could be melted down in [[smelting pool]]s and their metal reused by the Decepticons. Even other Decepticons weren't safe from his brutality, with him battering his own Executive Officer [[Shrapnel (G1)|Shrapnel]] when he was in a mood.

When a Decepticon transmission beamed from the planet [[Earth]] circa the Earth year [[1985]] reached Cybertron, Straxus immediately arranged for the capture of the scientist [[Spanner (G1)|Spanner]] so that a [[space bridge]] between the worlds could be constructed. Attempting to locate Spanner, the Autobot spy [[Scrounge (G1)|Scrounge]] learned of this plot, but was captured by [[Shrapnel (G1)|Shrapnel]] and brought before Straxus, who maliciously destroyed his unique recording-device arm before consigning him to death in the [[smelting pool]]s. In turn, [[Blaster (G1)|Blaster]] came searching for Scrounge (against orders), was captured and brought before Straxus, and sentenced to the pools. There he discovered the dying Scrounge, was given the information he had acquired, and escaped with the aid of his Autobot friends who had come looking for him (against orders). {{storylink|The Smelting Pool!}}

[[File:Straxusaltmode.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|Yeah, but where does the axe go?]]The space bridge was subsequently completed, but its earliest tests reduced Straxus to rage when a malfunction caused the death of [[Crosscut (Decepticon)|Crosscut]], and he sent [[Crosscut's successor|another unfortunate]] to instant death in an attempt to figure out what had gone wrong. In an act of petty brutality, he threatened Shrapnel that he better sort the problem out soon because ''he'' was going to be sent to clear the rubbish off the Bridge! As the tests went on, an Autobot raiding party planted explosives within Darkmount, destroying it, and sending an enraged Straxus after their heads. With the bridge unattended, Blaster intended to destroy it, but was confronted by Straxus in a one-on-one duel. Crippling Blaster with his axe, Straxus was duped into accidentally severing the bridge's fuel line, destabilizing its teleporting arch, through which Blaster then kicked Straxus, destroying him. {{storylink|The Bridge to Nowhere!}}

[[File:Straxushead.jpg|left|thumb|Teletraan I, Rita's escaped, recruit a team of teenagers with attitude...no, er wait...]]
''However, while Straxus's body was reduced to ash, his head was salvaged and placed in a life-support pod that allowed him to continue on in his position as leader.'' {{storylink|...The Harder They Die!}} ''Soon after, when [[Megatron (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Megatron]] arrived on Cybertron, Straxus immediately set in motion a scheme to restore himself to life, calmly following Megatron's directions to hunt down [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Optimus Prime]], who had arrived on the planet with him. ''{{storylink|Under Fire!}} {{storylink|Distant Thunder!}} ''After Prime carried out [[Decepticon fuel store|several successful raids]] alongside the Wreckers, Megatron began to grow more and more unstable, and Straxus more and more impatient with his deranged houseguest. Despite the warnings of his technicians as to the "unpredictability" of the machinery involved, Straxus made the final step, activating a device that would exchange his and Megatron's minds, giving him a body once more. Megatron resisted the transfer, however, leaving the two minds within Megatron's body, fighting for dominance, each one in control at a different moment. The other Decepticons, in particular [[Ratbat (G1)|Ratbat]], soon noticed their leader's problems and began to scheme about how to handle it. When in battle with Prime and [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Ultra Magnus]], Megatron prepared to unleash his destructive [[antimatter]] powers; in order to save the [[Polyhex Decepticon stronghold]], Ratbat activated the space bridge, teleporting the three Transformers back to [[Earth]].'' {{storylink|Resurrection!}}

[[File:Maulers mauled.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|This story is full of awesome Megatron moments and Straxus retroactively stole them all. He ''is'' evil!]]
''Before this could occur, having failed to oust Megatron's mind, Straxus activated his contingency plan, "[[Project Re-Birth]]," and his consciousness fled into a body he had specially prepared—a duplicate of Megatron created from a "[[Archforce|hapless trooper]]", complete with a copy of his brain patterns, beneath which Straxus's personality lay dormant. '' {{storylink|Two Megatrons!}}'' Upon hearing of the true Megatron's seeming death aboard the space bridge a short time later, the project technicians activated the clone, sending it to the sewers beneath [[London]] where it came into conflict with a small group of Autobots, [[Action Force (team)|Action Force]] and [[Centurion (Marvel)|Centurion]]. Straxus's mind had yet to take over the clone at this point, and it genuinely believed itself to be the true Megatron, but it was soon dealt with when an oil tank explosion sent it and Centurion tumbling into the [[Thames|River Thames]].'' {{storylink|Ancient Relics!}}

''Some time later, seeking a weapon to use against the deranged future Decepticon [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]], [[Shockwave (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Shockwave]] recovered the Megatron clone, also believing it to be the genuine article, only to find that "Megatron"'s mind had retreated into itself. Shockwave subjected the clone to the [[psycho-probe]], intending to force "Megatron" to face his fears—but instead, Straxus emerged, intending to fight Megatron's fears for him and finally take control of the body. Megatron fought back, however, ripping the mental image of Straxus to pieces and finally taking over their shared mind.'' {{storylink|Salvage!}}

[[File:Megatron wreckers time wars.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.67|"NOW, WITNESS THE '''MOST POWERFUL SQUAT OF ALL TIME!'''"]]
''After being thoroughly reprogrammed by Shockwave, this Megatron killed [[Cyclonus (G1)|Cyclonus]] in a test run'' {{storylink|Dry Run!}} ''and then proceeded to battle Galvatron. He ceased his attack after hearing from the future Decepticon that: a) Starscream would throw him out a ship in 2006, and b) Galvatron would kill him. Amused and seeing the two had a lot in common, Megatron agreed to join him.'' {{storylink|Altered Image!}} ''He helped Galvatron battle Autobots of the present and future in the "[[Time Wars]]", massacring [[Wrecker]]s and the [[Mayhem Attack Squad]], but was soon put off by the growing madness and pointless destruction that his ally was causing. The Megatron clone opted instead to [[Decepticon heavy transport|return]] to Cybertron.'' {{storylink|Time Wars}}

''He was taken aback to find his homeworld so different from what he remembered it as; Autobots were wandering about, unafraid and undisturbed by the planet's Decepticon presence, even in [[Helex (polity)|Helex]], the Decepticon capital. Vowing to retake control of Cybertron, Megatron quickly dispatched a would-be Autobot assassin and sought out those responsible for the Decepticons' sorry state. He discovered that their current commanders, [[Legonis]], [[Octus (G1)|Octus]] and [[Seizer]], were leading an idle life, enjoying gladiatorial battles while lounging about and drinking high-grade oil. The [[Triumvirate]] nearly goaded Megatron into attacking them in order to have their troops kill him in retaliation, but Megatron saw through their ruse. Growing desperate to rid themselves of the challenger, Seizer shoved Megatron down in the arena to have his gladiators deal with him, but once more Megatron retained his cool. With an eloquent speech, pointing out how far the Decepticons had fallen from their former glory, Megatron effortlessly dethroned the decadent ruling trio by turning their soldiers against them. The Triumvate was destroyed, and Megatron took control of the Decepticons on the planet once more... ruling confident in the knowledge he'd become Galvatron, and ''this'' time he'd do things ''right''!'' {{storylink|The Fall and Rise of the Decepticon Empire.}}

[[File:TFUK TwoMegatrons Suicide.JPG|upright=0.85|thumb|No, no! Aim away from the face!]]
''Soon, however, he began to suffer from nightmarish visions of the lives lived by both the trooper whose body became his, and of Straxus, just as the true Megatron—having recovered his memories after a period of wandering amensia in the [[Dead End (place)|Dead End]]—attacked his base.'' {{storylink|Mind Games}}'' The two Megatrons battled, with the true one revealed the clone's nature to him, and all at once, everything made sense to the clone. Along with this revelation, another immediately arose—Straxus's mental defeat was a sham, and he had been dwelling within the clone's mind all along, steadily growing in power as the clone weakened. Straxus made one final attempt to seize control of their mind, and the clone committed suicide, blowing his own head off with his [[fusion cannon]], rather than allow Straxus to win.'' {{storylink|Two Megatrons!}}

''It is possible that in the original un-altered pre-Time Wars timeline, the Straxus-Megatron clone may have been the Megatron transformed into Galvatron, but the shifting nature of the timelines makes this open to debate at best.''

''All very simple, isn't it?''

{{note|The true nature of the Megatron clone was not revealed until the story which depicted his death. This was because, for all of the clone's other stories, he was regarded by characters, readers and writer [[Simon Furman]] as actually being the ''real'' Megatron, having survived his supposed death in the US comics. The US comics, however, continued to treat Megatron as pushing up daisies, so when Simon Furman took over writing that title and penned Megatron's return, he needed an explanation that would reconcile Megatron's continual appearances in the UK title with his lack of activity in the US. Relegating the Megatron of the UK comics to a clone was that explanation, revealed in UK-exclusive strips which ran concurrently with the reprints of Megatron's US return.}}

=====Trigger-Happy!=====
The madness that had gripped the Megatron clone for so long began to subside, as the full ramifications of meeting his future self dawned on him. Foreknowledge that he would one day become Galvatron emboldened Megatron, and left him believing that he was invincible until such events came to pass. He still had to contend with [[Scorponok (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Scorponok]]'s rogue faction however, though an opportunity to gain an upper hand against his rival soon presented itself. Megatron received word from [[Crankcase (G1)|Crankcase]] and [[Ruckus (G1)|Ruckus]] that they had acquired battle plans drafted by Scorponok, and set up a meeting to receive the documents. Though the messengers were nearly intercepted by an Autobot ambush, they evaded capture thanks to [[Backstreet (G1)|Backstreet]] botching the sting. Afterwards, Megatron learned that Backstreet had gone on the run from Autobot justice, and saw an opportunity to capitalize on the situation. Backstreet had accidentally endangered several humans before fleeing, and Megatron plotted to make the fugitive into a pariah; through him, humans might be led to believe that all Autobots meant them harm. Megatron would turn the locals against Optimus's forces, and eliminate them too once the Autobots had fallen. An altercation between Backstreet and a human military convoy only served to further Megatron's goals.

It was [[Spinister (G1)|Spinister]] who eventually tracked down Backstreet, then squatting in an abandoned amusement park. Megatron ordered his troops to stand back so that he might approach Backstreet himself, and "recruit" him to the Decepticons. But upon his arrival, Megatron found that both [[Scoop (G1)#Trigger-Happy!|Scoop]] and Spinister had disregarded his orders and were in the process of roughing up the Autobot. Outraged, Megatron tossed aside both his minions and ordered them away. Then, in his best attempt to appear sincere, Megatron extended a hand in friendship towards Backstreet, promising him protection and a privileged position in the Decepticon hierarchy. Despite Megatron's best efforts, Backstreet saw through his charade, and turned down the offer. Abandoning all attempts at subtlety, Megatron readied to strike Backstreet dead when Optimus Prime barged in on the scene.

Megatron ordered his troops to remain in position, declaring the honor of killing Prime to be his alone. He nearly succeeded in his attempt too, only for Backstreet to regain his senses upon hearing that his commander was willing to take him back despite his past mistakes. Megatron was knocked out, and only regained consciousness in time to see the Autobots slipping away. {{storylink|Trigger-Happy!}}

=====Marvel UK future timelines=====
The Megatron clone would terrify a young Hot Rod in [[1990]] by willingly risking the lives of loyal Decepticons to flush out a [[Warmonger|double-agent]], and then muse it would've been easier to just murder everyone. Later, he would wage a [[Decepticon Civil War]] against [[Shockwave (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Shockwave]] and Scorponok. {{storylink|Aspects of Evil!}}

He then become Galvatron by [[2006]] and, by not fleeing to Earth's past, conquered Cybertron! Well, it seems to be him, it's very confusing. If it was him, he then got stepped on by [[Unicron]] in [[2010]]. {{storylink|Aspects of Evil!}}

====Marvel ''Generation 2'' comic====
[[File:WarWithoutEnd-Straxus.jpg|thumb|upright=0.85|His weapon gets less threatening with each appearance.]]
[[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]] referred to Straxus as one of the petty, small-minded dictators he left in charge of [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] when he left to start the [[Cybertronian (faction)|Cybertronian Empire]]. {{storylink|War Without End!}}
{{-}}

====''Classics''====
Decades after the death of Straxus, Blaster would tell of the evil Straxus to [[Primax -408.24 Epsilon|a mirror universe]]'s [[Straxus (SG)|good Straxus]]. {{storylink|Falling into Place}}

====Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity====
=====''United EX''=====
[[File:UnitedEX2 blazing alps.jpg|thumb|left|250px|]]
Somehow traveling across universes,<ref name="EX">[http://www.allspark.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=89376&st=0&p=2149784&hl=straxus&#entry2149784 Post by ''United EX'' writer Hydra]: "My intent when writing the story was that he be the Straxus from the comics universe himself, appearing as a result of some teleportation or experimental technology, just as Thunderwing appeared in the United stories." This would later be solidified by [[Ask Vector Prime]].</ref> Straxus inserted himself into the alternate universe's Decepticons led by [[Scrash (OC)|Scrash]], becoming part of the [[Master Chaos]] in his pursuit of new technology. With his new body, he gained the new identity of "Rollermaster". {{storylink|#United EX 2|''United EX'' Straxus bio}}

Rollermaster revealed the existence of the Decepticon Master Chaos brigade to the Autobots when he attacked [[Blaze Master|Choppermaster]], who was training in the Swiss Alps. Rollermaster overrode the Autobot flyer's control of the PCC drones, achieving his own combination form. {{storylink|In the Blazing Alps}}

Rollermaster and Choppermaster fought to a standstill, but [[Onslaught (G1)|Combatmaster]] stepped in at the end and easily snatched up the drones from the wounded Autobot. {{storylink|Prelude to the Siege}}
{{-}}

=====Wars manga=====
[[File:Ultra Megatron head Straxus Metrowars.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4]]
Straxus eventually shed his Master Chaos identity and was appointed leader of a Decepticon force concentrated on [[Metrotitan (Zone)|Metrotitan]], whose base mode he dubbed "Darkmount" after his old haunts. Straxus somehow acquired a rebuilt and comatose [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ultra Megatron]], who he attempted to brainwash with his technology. When the Decepticon Emperor resisted, Straxus noted that more of such would crumble Megatron's "diabolical nature". In the meantime, he led an attack on [[Metroplex (G1)|Scramble City]], but the Decepticon forces fled when the Autobots showed the power of a newly-reborn [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]]. {{storylink|Metrowars}}

Following the failure of this attack, Straxus worked on repairing the wounded Metrotitan whilst simultaneously manipulating his thoughts and emotions. {{storylink|Metrowars 2}}

=====''Transformers Legends'' comic=====
To introduce the traits of of organic life to the next generation of [[Transformer]]s, Straxus performed experiments that created a new, hybrid form of Cybertronian, producing [[Convobat]] and [[Megalligator]]. {{storylink|Convobat#Legends|''Legends'' Convobat bio}}
{{-}}

===IDW Generation 1 continuity===
[[File:Straxusidw.jpg|left|upright=1.4|thumb|I may or may not be here in subsequent panels, depending on how the artist feels today.]]
Straxus of [[Yuss]] {{storylink|Shadowplay, Part 1: Post Hoc|Post Hoc}} (not a "Lord")<ref>[http://simonfurman.wordpress.com/2008/06/17/wheels-on-fire/#comment-3627 "WHEELS ON FIRE"—simon furman: the blog]</ref> was part of the crew of the first ''[[Ark (G1)|Ark]]'', which left Cybertron six million years ago. The ship was lost to the [[Dead Universe]], and Straxus and his crewmates became the living dead, unable to survive in their home universe for long periods of time. {{storylink|Spotlight: Cyclonus}} Despite this, however, an erroneous account placed Straxus on Cybertron two million years later, working security at the [[Kaon Security Headquarters]] just prior to the outbreak of the Autobot/Decepticon war. {{storylink|Megatron Origin issue 4|Megatron Origin #4}}

In the present day, [[Nightbeat (G1)|Nightbeat]] was abducted on [[Gorlam Prime]], Straxus implanted a device in his brain that would make him a sleeper agent for the Dead Universe crew.<ref>According to the [http://forum.idwpublishing.com/viewtopic.php?p=82441#82441 script] for "[[Spotlight: Hardhead]]".</ref> {{storylink|Spotlight: Nightbeat}}

[[File:SpotlightDoubledealer Straxus Transforms.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|And yet, surprisingly few kitbashes from Cybertron [[Sideways (Armada)#Cybertron|Sideways]]...]]
After [[Cyclonus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Cyclonus]] secured the [[Nega-Core]] and activated its guardian, Straxus initiated the [[Expansion]] with [[Nova Prime|Nemesis Prime]] and the rest of the Dead Universe crew. {{storylink|Spotlight: Cyclonus}}

Later, Straxus attacked Earth with [[Grindcore (G1)|Grindcore]]. His job was to bombard the surface in his jet mode and then operate an [[energon]] drill while Grindcore set up a [[space bridge]]. {{storylink|Spotlight: Doubledealer}}

Straxus and Grindcore soon had to defend this site when an Autobot team led by [[Fortress Maximus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Fortress Maximus]] stormed it, trying to prevent the Expansion. [[Sideswipe (G1)|Sideswipe]] ended up holding off both of them at the same time while the other Autobots slipped by. The [[Benzuli Expanse]] anomaly was soon sealed off, and unable to survive without their connection to the Dead Universe, both Straxus and Grindcore simply... ceased functioning. {{storylink|Spotlight: Sideswipe}}
{{-}}

===''Universe'' toy bios===
During Straxus's rule over Polyhex, he put a lowly, unknown warrior through an excruciating rebuilding process, tortuously reforging him into the very image of Optimus Prime. Through forcible data uploads and brainwashing, the Decepticon was imbued with memories and skills culled from many sources, giving him much of Optimus Prime's knowledge and combat algorithms. However, Straxus perished before he could complete this "[[Nemesis Prime (G1)|Nemesis Prime]]", and his creation was left without a framework with which to process the mental injections. Straxus's legacy was this mad wraith haunting the back alleys of Cybertron, hunting down Autobots and Decepticons alike.<ref>[http://tformers.net/g/albums/9893/DSCF2738.JPG Nemesis Prime's ''Universe Classic Series'' on-package bio]</ref>

===''Wings Universe''===
[[File:FierceFightingOnPlanetNebulos-StraxusDecepticons.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.1|...I was an unstoppable tyrannical warlord who answered to no one, once...]]
Straxus was one of a number of [[Decepticon Warlord]]s who fought for territory in the early days of the Great War. With the threat of the [[Cybertron Elite Guard]], the Warlords formed a war council. During one meeting, they reviewed footage of the Elite Guard wiping out some of [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]]'s men, and discussed ways of ridding themselves of the Elite Guard. At the next meeting of the council, [[Deathsaurus (Victory)|Deathsaurus]] sent along his lieutenant, [[Falcon (G1)|Falcon]], with a box containing an important message. The message turned out to be a bomb, which killed the council members present. {{storylink|A Team Effort}}

===''United''===
A [[nano-virus]] that afflicted most Autobots save the [[Targetmaster (technology)|Targetmasters]] and the [[Headmaster (technology)|Headmasters]] required [[Ricochet (Headmasters)|Ricochet]] to lead a team to [[Nebulos]] for an anti-virus. However, the nano-virus was merely a ploy by the Decepticons to draw out the Targetmasters and Headmasters to abduct their [[Nebulan]] partners, so when the Autobots arrived on Nebulos, Straxus was waiting for them with a considerable army! His army quickly fell into disarray, unfortunately, when Straxus was singled out and defeated. He returned to his [[Thunderwing (G1)|master]] to beg forgiveness. {{storylink|The Fierce Fighting on Planet Nebulos}}
{{-}}

===''Kre-O'' comic===
[[File:KreO-webcomic-5-Straxus.jpg|75px|thumb|]]
Straxus was part of a massive Decepticon invasion force intended to ruin the Autobots' picnic. However, [[Optimus Prime (Kre-O)|Optimus Prime]] plowed through them with his truck and left them scattered... and then left. Returning to the scene after.. ''ahem'', taking care of some pressing business, Optimus gathered up the still-wiped-out Kreons, bound them up on a flatbed trailer, and took them to the picnic. {{storylink|Emergency! Hurry to the Base, Optimus!}}
{{-}}

===''Transformers vs. G.I. Joe''===
Part of Megatron's inner circle, Straxus was present when [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]] delivered [[Bumblebee (G1)|Bumblebee]]'s head to the Decepticon leader. {{storylink|The Golden Boys}} He was giggling creepily to himself in a corner when [[Destro]] appeared before Megatron offering an alliance. {{storylink|Funeral for a Friend}} When the Decepticons withdrew from a battle without finishing the Autobots off, Straxus recognized that Megatron just wouldn't admit he'd sustained injuries in battle with [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]]. {{storylink|Everybody Hates Metroplex}}

===''TransTech''===
[[File:Kre-OStraxus-CMW.jpg|thumb|left|75px]]
When the [[Waruder]]s caused a blackout in [[Axiom Nexus]], a Kreon Straxus within the offworlder maximum security prison fought it out with his fellow inmates, particularly a Kreon [[Scrounge (G1)|Scrounge]]. {{storylink|Cybertron's Most Wanted}}

===Ask Vector Prime===
Pity the multiverse's [[Archforce]]s, for Straxuses surgically altered them to look like Megatron. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/08/10}}

In [[Primax 092.0 Beta]], [[Hyperdrive (Turbomaster)|Hyperdrive]] gathered as many Autobot survivors as he could and stormed Straxus's shipyards, commandeering the ''[[Iron Hope (G1)|Iron Hope]]'' and setting back the Decepticons' space infrastructure by hundreds of stellar cycles. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/07/16}}
{{-}}

===''Of Masters and Mayhem''===
Straxus developed a mental conditioning program which [[Loudpedal]] and [[Oil Slick (G1)|Oil Slick]] applied on [[Toxitron (G1)|Toxitron]]. {{storylink|The Toxic Transformer}}

==Games==
===''Transformers Legends''===
Straxus, [[Axer (G1)|Axer]], and [[Thunderwing (G1)|Thunderwing]] accompanied [[Nova Prime|Nemesis Prime]] on a mission to defeat Nemesis's former self, Nova Prime. {{storylink|Prime Evil}}

Straxus was part of a Decepticon raiding party that scoured a Human military base for the [[MacGuffin Generator]]. Straxus's job was to look in every building to check if it housed the generator, and reduce it to rubble if it didn't. The Decepticons eventually found the device, despite some Autobot interference, but it proved to be more volatile than they had anticipated. The Generator exploded, sending Straxus and the Decepticons flying off into the distance. {{storylink|Raiding Party}}

===''Transformers: Battle Tactics''===
[[File:BattleTacticsDarkmount.jpg|thumb|upright=1.6|{{w|Shredder (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)|SHREDDER!!}}]]
Darkmount participated in battles against a variety of opponents, both Autobots and Decepticons. Sometimes there were many of him! He was a Rare character who could be recruited after collecting 110 units of Cybermetal, 60 units of Transmetal, and 35 support cores. {{storylink|Transformers: Battle Tactics}}
{{--}}

==Toys==
===''Generations''===
[[File:Generationstoy-Darkmount.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|You're welcome.]]
*'''Darkmount''' (Deluxe, [[2010]])
**''Accessories'': Pick-axe/cannon, missile launcher, machine gun, smoke grenade launchers

:Part of wave 2 of ''[[Transformers: Generations|Generations]]'', Darkmount ("Straxus" was [[trademark|unavailable]]) transforms into a half-tracked [[Wikipedia:Self-propelled artillery|self-propelled artillery]] inspired by the [[Wikipedia:G6 howitzer|South African G6 Rhino]], as well as a tripod-mounted [[Wikipedia:Howitzer|howitzer]] platform called a "battle station".

:In vehicle mode, the turret can rotate and the barrel can raise. Initially it was planned to have him interact with Scout Class figures who could man his "fortress mode". The remainders of that idea are the otherwise pointless handlebars that end up on his knees in robot mode.<ref name="generations11">TakaraTomy staff interview in ''[[Transformers Generations 2011]]'' vol. 1, [http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-news-rumors/428825-takaratomy-staff-interview-generations-united.html translation at TFW2005].</ref> In robot mode, the cannon barrel becomes his trademark pick-axe weapon, while his smaller weapons (featuring [[C joint]]s) can clip onto various compatible rungs, bars and tubes sculpted onto the vehicle or robot. Despite his portly robot form, and his alternate half-track mode, his tech specs list his speed rank as 10.

:"M17" is written on his vehicle mode, referencing "[[The Smelting Pool!|Marvel #17]]", the comic issue in which Straxus first appeared. His head is designed with a light-piping feature but it is not utilized.

:The mold was [[redeco]]ed into ''[[Transformers Timelines (toyline)|Timelines]]''/''[[Transformers: Shattered Glass (toyline)|Shattered Glass]]'' [[Straxus (SG)#Timelines|The Bard of Darkmount]] and [[retool]]ed into ''Generations'' [[Skullgrin#Generations|Skullgrin]].

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2010/Decepticon/Darkmount/darkmount.htm More information on Darkmount at TFU.info]''
{{-}}

===''United''===
[[File:United Straxus Toy.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|TakaraTomy will collect the fee...''personally!'']]
*'''Straxus''' (Deluxe, 2010-[[December 25|12-25]])
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''UN-10'''
**''Accessories'': "Battle axe"/cannon, missile launcher, machine gun, smoke grenade launchers

:Darkmount was redecoed for inclusion in the first wave of [[TakaraTomy]]'s ''[[Transformers United|United]]'' toyline, and even released under his original name. He now sports a new color scheme that replaces much of his grey plastic and ''all'' of his red plastic with more dark blue and new light-blue pieces, apparently shooting to emulate Straxus as he was colored in his [[The Bridge to Nowhere!|second Marvel appearance]], drawing particular inspiration from the [[:File:MarvelUS-18.jpg|cover]] of the issue. And he's got his dead, black eyes!

:Besides the black eyes, Straxus features additional paint on his face as well as his crotch plate and knee flaps.
::*''[http://www.seibertron.com/transformers-toys/gallery/transformers-united/straxus/2799/1/ Image gallery of ''United'' Straxus at Seibertron.com]''
{{-}}

===''United EX''===
[[File:United-toy RollerMaster.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66]]
*'''Rollermaster vs Choppermaster''' (Vs pack, [[2012]]-[[September 22|09-22]])
**''ID number'': '''EX P1'''

:"Rollermaster" is a [[redeco]] of the ''[[Power Core Combiners]]'' [[Icepick (PCC)#Toys|Icepick]] toy, transforming into a treaded snow-plow vehicle of probably-made-up model. Unlike most ''Power Core Combiners'' Commander molds, Rollermaster does not have [[5mm post]] holes in or near his hands to allow him to use hand-held weapons. He has some sweet claws, though, and the hardpoint on his right shoulder allows him to use a Mini-Con's weapon mode as a shoulder-mounted emplacement. A flip-up [[Powerlinx]] socket on his chest allows him to use [[Mini-Con]]s as armor. He also has a secondary "Prime mode" configuration in which he forms a super robot torso; in this mode he can use the drone-limbs from any 5-pack set to make a new super-robot.

:He was only available in a set with [[Blaze Master#United EX 2|Choppermaster]], [[Spanner (United)|Spanner]], and [[Firebug (United)|Firebug]].
{{--}}

==Notes==
[[File:StraxusChangesColors.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|Consistency is not dispensed here, fools, only GAFFES!]]
*For some reason, Straxus's colors changed drastically between the two issues he was in for the US comic. Also, sometimes between panels.
*With that in mind, Darkmount's color scheme (with its red biceps and gold chest) is based on an amalgam of his appearances. Specifically, a unique color arrangement that appeared on the cover of the fan-publication "The Obscure Omnibus" that super-fan [[User:Monzo|Monzo]] gave the Transformers team for reference.
*Not only was Straxus's color scheme unstable, but so was his weapon design. In his first issue, it looked like a pick-axe, but when Straxus battled Blaster in his second issue, it had evolved into a scythe.
*"[[Two Megatrons!]]" means that Straxus was around but dormant when Ratbat was boss of Cybertron. Was he dormant for a proper reason or did Ratbat ''arrange it'' that way?
*So why "Darkmount" for the toy instead of the obviously-made-up "Straxus", theoretically easy to [[trademark]]? One possible explanation is that an Austrian company, [http://www.stadlbauer.at/74.0.html?&L=1 Stadlbauer], has owned "Strax" as an international registered trademark for toys since 1966, and applied to register the term in the United States [http://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=79069729&caseType=SERIAL_NO&searchType=statusSearch in 2009]. This would give Stadlbauer a solid legal hold on the term versus another company trying to use a sound-alike in the same field. While this unforeseen hitch may have necessitated Straxus's name-change, it's not like another company could get away with using "Optimusor Primeo", either...
**There is also a staxus.com website, which is '''''AMAZINGLY NOT SAFE FOR WORK''''', so... yeah. Remember "[[Nexus Prime|Nexus Maximus]]"? That kinda thing. So much that kinda thing. (This, of course, does make the move to "Darkmount" pretty funny in context.)
*According to Hasbro copy writer [[Forest Lee]], Straxus was mentioned in [[San Diego Comic-Con|Comic-Con]] 2008 [[Nemesis Prime (G1)|Nemesis Prime]]'s bio entirely to make [[David Willis]] happy. Incidentally, Willis colored the cover to the fan publication mentioned in the second note, so he's probably on Cloud Nine right now.
*Darkmount's instructions show [[Skullgrin]]'s robot head. It's [[Cliffjumper (WFC)|becoming]] [[Black Shadow (Victory)|a]] [[Axor|trend]].
*''Universe'' Nemesis Prime's backstory was certainly inspired by the Megatron-clone plot, but their relation to each other in-fiction is unclear. A straight reading would suggest that Straxus merely had more than one clone project in the works. However, if one assumes that the ''Classic Series'' bios are meant to follow the [[Hasbro Transformers Collectors' Club (magazine)|''Classics'' comic]], then Nemesis Prime would be Straxus's ONLY known clone project in his universe, since the UK comics are not part of that continuity. However, it wouldn't be the [[Mutant (G1)|first time]] a [[The 4,000,000 Year Itch!|UK-only plot thread]] managed to make it into a ''Classics''-related product...
*It's likely that [[Eric Holmes]] didn't consult with [[Simon Furman]] when he had Straxus as a cameo in ''[[The Transformers: Megatron Origin|Megatron Origin]]''. (Straxus must have been mentioned in the script, since he shows up in [http://mmatere.deviantart.com/art/Megatron-Origins-4-pag-02-80058403 Marcelo Matere's version of the page.]) Since he was never mentioned by name in ''Origin'', and he has a different design in the later Spotlights, it can be easily retconned that the character in ''Megatron Origin'' was [[Bluster|"Straxus's brother"]], since Straxus was supposedly in the Dead Universe at this time.
*Rollermaster's bio notes do not ''explicitly'' say he's Straxus, but... come on. Plus, the [[Andrew Hall|guy who wrote the bio and story and all that]] said he is.<ref name="EX" />
*Straxus in the online ''Kre-O'' comic is made from existing ''Kre-O'' parts. He uses [[Bumblebee (Kre-O)|Bumblebee]]'s helmet and a pair of scythe-weapons from the ''[[G.I. Joe (franchise)|G.I. Joe]] Kre-O'' sets.
*A proposed [[Fun Publications]] [[BotCon]] [[exclusive]] was a redeco of [[#Generations|''Generations'' Darkmount]] into [[Bombshell (G1)|Generation 1 Bombshell/Hardshell]].<ref>[http://www.toycollectors.com.au/bc14/bc14br.html BotCon 2014 attendee report]</ref>

===Foreign names===
*''Japanese:'' '''Straxus''' (ストラクサス ''Sutorakusasu'')

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Classics Decepticons]]
[[Category:Clones]]
[[Category:Dead Universe]]
[[Category:Decepticon leaders]]
[[Category:Generation 1 Decepticons]]
[[Category:Generations]]
[[Category:IDW Generation 1 Transformers]]
[[Category:Kre-O Decepticons]]
[[Category:Kreons]]
[[Category:Transformers with three modes]]
[[Category:TransTech Decepticons]]
[[Category:United Decepticons]]
[[Category:Wings Universe Decepticons]]

Onslaught (G1)

2017-04-26T00:42:29Z

7Crimsonified7: /* Marvel The Transformers comics */

{{factions|decepticon|decepticong2|autobot|eliteguard}}
{{disambig3|Onslaught}}
:''Onslaught is a [[Decepticon]] [[Combaticon (G1)|Combaticon]] from the [[Generation 1 continuity family]].''
[[File:MTMTEOnslaught.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|''The Combaticons are warring! Onslaught is ROARING! He is one metamorphin' DUDICUS!'']]
'''Onslaught''' is what you'd call the "hands-off" type. He doesn't enjoy getting his mitts dirty, but instead prefers the thrill of designing battle plans, strategies, and tactics, and then watching his [[Combaticon (G1)|Combaticon]] soldiers carry them out. While he typically crafts his strategies to exclude his direct involvement, Onslaught is no coward. When required, he will engage in battle with strength, cunning and earthquaking fury. This darker, more brutish side of Onslaught might lead some [[Decepticon]]s into thinking he has a secret blood-lust stashed away in his circuits. But truth be told, he's really just ticked off that his plans didn't work out the way they were supposed to.

Onslaught can combine with his fellow Combaticons to form [[Bruticus (G1)|Bruticus]], who is considerably dumber than Onslaught.

After his conversion to [[Power Core Combination]] technology, he took the code name '''Combatmaster.

{{quote|I beg your pardon?! My strategies are brilliant!|Onslaught to [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]]|"[[The Revenge of Bruticus]]"}}

==Fiction==
===Generation 1 cartoon continuity===
====''The Transformers'' cartoon====
{{voiceactor|[[S. Marc Jordan]], [[Terry McGovern]] ("Five Faces of Darkness, Part 1"), [[Steve Bulen|Steve Bulin]] ("The Rebirth, Part 3") (English), [[Yū Shimaka|Yutaka Shimaka]] (Japanese), [[Jin Horikawa]] (Japanese, ''The Rebirth'')|[[Hans-Rainer Müller]] (German, ''Fiva Faces of Darkness, Part 1 - 3''), [[Walter von Hauff]] (German, ''Surprise Party''), [[Thomas Rau]] (German, ''Starscreams Ghost''), [[Bernd Simon]] (German, ''The Rebirth, Part 3''), [[Gerd Rigauer]] (German, Generation 2 Dub), [[Hélio Ribeiro]] (Portuguese)}}
[[File:StarscreamsBrigade OnslaughtVortex.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|"Heave! Next time, Vortex, ''chew'' your food!"]]
Onslaught was one of the five [[renegade Decepticon]]s liberated by [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] in the Air Commander's latest attempt to unseat [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]]. As an element of their imprisonment, they had been reduced to mere [[personality component]]s, so Starscream installed them into abandoned [[World War II]] military vehicles. The transplant caused the vehicles to immediately reconfigure themselves: Onslaught in particular went from being a [[wikipedia:Half-track|half-track]] troop carrier to being a flatbed missile-truck, before turning into a robot. Starscream called them "Combaticons" and announced their names as they transformed, but they didn't recognize him. Nor did they feel particularly indebted to him for their release; in the end, Starscream only guaranteed their loyalty though having given them bodies bereft of [[energy absorber]]s, so they would be dependent upon him to refuel.

Onslaught and his fellow Combaticons agreed to work with Starscream to overthrow Megatron on the promise of being given the vital components. Onslaught worked in capturing two [[Autobot]]s, though he got into an argument with [[Vortex (G1)|Vortex]] over who was responsible for the act. Later, while recharging at a power station, Starscream's brigade was confronted by the Decepticons under Megatron's command. Anticipating that [[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]] might come into play, Starscream ordered Onslaught and the other Combaticons to merge into the dim-witted [[Bruticus (G1)|Bruticus]]. The Combaticon combiner managed to soundly defeat Devastator, but was in turn defeated by a surprise attack by [[Menasor (G1)|Menasor]]. For their treachery, Megatron banished Onslaught, his comrades and Starscream in space on a desolate asteroid. {{storylink|Starscream's Brigade}}

[[File:Revenge of bruticus 4 changing course.jpg|thumb|Megatron felt quite foolish once Onslaught showed him the one loose wire preventing his [[Victory (G1)|space cruiser]] from flying again.]]

After a falling out with Starscream, Onslaught became the mastermind of [[Operation Revenge]] and helped defeat [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]]'s forces on Cybertron. He also used his external backpack and altered the Space Bridge to send Earth into the sun. It didn't work as he was defeated by the allied Decepticons and Autobots. Then Megatron had the Combaticons, including Onslaught, reprogrammed to serve him. Poor guy, can't seem to get a break. {{storylink|The Revenge of Bruticus}}

[[File:AerialAssault Onslaughtattacks.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|In Soviet Russia, [[Aerialbot (G1)|skeet]] shoots back!]]

After that little lobotomy, the Combaticons were deployed to Earth's Middle East to assist in Megatron's scheme to steal military jets, rebuild them into cars, drive them out of the owners' nations, and then rebuild them back into drone jets in friendly territory. Yeah. Onslaught and the other Combaticons attacked the [[Aerialbot (G1)|Aerialbots]] when they snooped around, managing to force [[Slingshot (G1)|Slingshot]] to crash into a cave (YAY!). Later, Onslaught and the ground-based Combaticons formed an anti-aircraft screen against an Aerialbot attack on [[Giant Purple Griffin|the Fortress]], then merged into Bruticus, but was rather quickly defeated by [[Superion (G1)|Superion]] before being blown away by the exploding oil wells. {{storylink|Aerial Assault}}

Back in the [[United States of America|United States]], Onslaught led the Combaticons in driving down the road of a random city for no apparent reason until they were confronted by [[Defensor (G1)|Defensor]]. Though the Combaticons formed Bruticus, they were blown to pieces by a single shot from the Autobot, with [[Swindle (G1)|Swindle]] being the only survivor. Swindle later sold the parts of his comrades, but was forced to buy them back for Megatron's next Crazy Scheme. The Combaticons formed Bruticus to operate the orbital disruptor cannon, but was shot by the cannon itself when [[B.O.T. (G1)|B.O.T.]] tampered with it. {{storylink|B.O.T. (episode)|B.O.T.}}

[[File:FFoD1 DamagedOnslaught.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|Stoopid 'Cons never lisssen t'me. I'ma bloody genius, a strategic maschter *hic*maschtermind, but they's still following a [[Galvatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|looney wit'a big gun]]. Just—it just ain't right. *hic*Aw, I'm gonna over-energize all over my face-plate...]]

By the year 2006, the Decepticons had been forced into retreat on the ruined, burned out world of [[Chaar]]. Onslaught warned first [[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] and then the [[Quintesson]]s that the Decepticons would no longer be powerful enough to attack the Autobots directly, but he joined most of the other Decepticons in their attack on the Autobots anyway. {{storylink|Five Faces of Darkness, Part 3}} Much later, [[Galvatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Galvatron]] sent Onslaught, [[Brawl (G1)|Brawl]] and [[Blast Off (G1)|Blast Off]] to assassinate the Decepticon exile [[Octane]]. Onslaught attempted to hold his troops until the proper moment presented itself, but Octane was still able to seek cover before their laser fire could terminate him. The traitor's Autobot partner, [[Sandstorm (G1)|Sandstorm]], then used his eponymous ability to blind and disorient the Combaticons long enough for the two [[Triple Changer]]s to escape. {{storylink|Starscream's Ghost}}

Onslaught's next mission was to lead the Combaticons in an attack on an Autobot shuttle waiting to deliver [[human]]s to a peace conference. He had a complicated and cunning strategy of misdirecting the Autobots by dressing up like Bruticus and having Swindle painted like [[Hound (G1)|Hound]], but the Autobots were unfazed by the confusion. The Combaticons succeeded in busting up the shuttle a little before being driven away by the Autobots. {{storylink|Surprise Party}} As part of Bruticus, Onslaught watched the Decepticon assault on [[Paradron]], {{storylink|Fight or Flee (episode)|Fight or Flee}} and was infected by the [[Hate Plague]], along with the rest of the galaxy. {{storylink|The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 1}}

During the battle for the [[Plasma Energy Chamber]], Onslaught led his Combaticons in the crafting of a giant planetary rocket engine that would be used to propel Cybertron into orbit around Earth. This engine was fueled by the reprocessed body parts of defeated Autobots. Gross. {{storylink|The Rebirth, Part 3}}
{{--}}
{{charstubfiction|{{storylink|Five Faces of Darkness, Part 1}} {{storylink|Five Faces of Darkness, Part 2}} {{storylink|The Burden Hardest to Bear}}}}

====Japanese cartoon continuity====
=====''Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers'' manga=====
[[File:DecepticonTrailerBrigade1.jpg|left|upright=0.8|thumb|"Eleven foot six? Damn you!"]]
When Menasor's baseball stadium/command base was attacked by Superion and Defensor, Bruticus (so by proxy, Onslaught) came to his aid. He quickly took out Defensor, damaging [[Hot Spot (G1)|Hot Spot]] and preventing the [[Protectobot (G1)|Protectobots]] from combining again. However, Superion blasted Brawl and Swindle away with his [[electrostatic discharger rifle]], allowing [[First Aid (G1)|First Aid]] and [[Streetwise (G1)|Streetwise]] to steal their places as Bruticus's legs and fly away with Onslaught and his troops. {{storylink|Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers issue 5|Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers #5}}

In order to make the Autobots look bad, Onslaught joined the Stunticons in destroying factories while wearing the Autobot [[insignia]]. When they were caught, all but him and [[Motormaster (G1)|Motormaster]] fled the scene, but Onslaught had an ace up his sleeve: Together, he and Motormaster made up the [[Decepticon Trailer Corps]]! With their spinning "Decepticon Great Wheel" attack, the subgroup leaders held the Autobots at bay for a while, but were eventually defeated by [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] and [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ultra Magnus]]'s "Prime-Magnus Finish Double" kick. {{storylink|Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers issue 7|Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers #7}}

Onslaught then led his Combaticons in murdering a [[Murdered puppy|puppy]]. They succeeded, but the [[Mini Vehicle|Minibots]] got them good. {{storylink|Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers issue 8|Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers #8}}
{{-}}

=====''Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers'' story pages=====
{{charstubfiction}}

=====''The Story of Super Robot Lifeforms: The Transformers'' manga=====
In the year [[2010]], Onslaught participated in a Decepticon attack on the planet Feminia. He and his team merged into Bruticus in order to battle alongside Menasor and Devastator against their Autobot counterparts Superion, Defensor and Omega Supreme. The fight was fairly evenly matched until Galvatron called up his ace-in-the-hole, [[Predaking (G1)|Predaking]], whose power was unmatched by any of the Autobots... except for the [[Omnibot (G1)|Omnibots]], who essentially tied Predaking's shoelaces together until he fell over, straight into Bruticus and his chums, sending them all toppling to the ground and knocking them to bits. {{storylink|The Story of Super Robot Lifeforms: The Transformers issue 5|The Story of Super Robot Lifeforms: The Transformers #5}}

=====''Scramble City: Mobilization''=====
{{voiceactor|[[Yū Shimaka]] (Japanese)}}

When the Stunticons were dispatched to hinder the Autobots from constructing [[Metroplex (G1)|Scramble City]], they were attacked by the Aerialbots and did not fare too well. Onslaught's Combaticons arrived to help, and together Bruticus and Menasor easily overpowered Superion. However, Scramble City itself soon arrived and blasted both combiners away. {{storylink|Scramble City: Mobilization}}

=====''The Great Transformer War'' manga=====
[[Galvatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Galvatron]] and the Decepticons kidnapped the scientist Doctor [[Dalton (G1)|Dalton]] to help advance their combination technology. When the Aerialbots and Protectobots arrived to save Dalton, Onslaught and Motormaster merged with [[Trypticon (G1)|Trypticon]] in base mode, deploying their fellow Decepticons into battle. The Decepticon combiners then formed Bruticus and Menasor, but were ultimately defeated by their Autobot counterparts. {{storylink|The Great Transformer War issue 1|The Great Transformer War #1}}

=====''The Headmasters'' cartoon=====
{{voiceactor|[[Michitaka Kobayashi]] (Japanese), [[Kōji Totani]] (Japanese, ep 25)}}
Onslaught and the Combaticons participated in an all-out Decepticon attack on Cybertron, {{storylink|Four Warriors Come out of the Sky}} until [[Fortress Maximus (G1)|Fortress Maximus]] arrived and drove them away. {{storylink|The Mystery of Planet Master}} Shortly afterwards, [[Hot Rod/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Hot Rod]] set out to find the [[Matrix of Leadership]] and bring it to Optimus Prime, and the Combaticons were among the troops sent out to stop him. They were ambushed by the Protectobots, and defeated when Defensor buried Bruticus in a rockfall. {{storylink|Birth of the Fantastic Double Prime}} Not long after that, the Combaticons defended [[Trypticon (G1)|Trypticon]] against [[Blaster (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Twincast]]'s attempted infiltration, but failed when the [[Aerialbot (G1)|Aerialbots]] arrived and distracted them. {{storylink|The Great Cassette Operation}}

[[File:UltraMagnusDies Combaticons.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|"Jeez, Galvatron, why put HIM with the Combaticons?"]]
The Combaticons were later part of ''another'' attack on Cybertron, during which they killed plenty of [[Generic|soldiers]] before getting into another fight with Defensor. {{storylink|Cybertron Is in Grave Danger, Part 1}} They lost. {{storylink|Cybertron Is in Grave Danger, Part 2}} When the Decepticons planted a giant carnivorous plant in [[San Francisco]], the Combaticons and Stunticons were stationed to attack any Autobots who arrived to kill it. {{storylink|Head On!! Fortress Maximus}} Sixshot later sent the Combaticons, [[Terrorcon (G1)|Terrorcons]] and [[Horrorcon]]s to attack an Autobot energy facility in [[Miami]], in order to lure Autobot troops away from [[Autobot City (G1)|Autobot City]]. {{storylink|Ultra Magnus Dies!!}} The Combaticons also unleashed Bruticus as Sixshot continued his reign of terror over the Autobots on Earth. {{storylink|The Emperor of Destruction Vanishes on an Iceberg}}

Onslaught was present when [[Scorponok (G1)|Scorponok]] held a speech about Galvatron's recent death and took control of the Decepticons. {{storylink|I Risk My Life for Earth}} Bruticus was later part of a small group of Decepticons who tried to lead Fortress Maximus away from the Decepticon base on [[Master (planet)|Master]]. {{storylink|The Zarak Shield Turns the Tide}} The combiner then stood by and laughed as [[Predaking (G1)|Predaking]] sank the luxury liner ''[[Queen World]]'' in the Atlantic Ocean. {{storylink|The Final Showdown on Earth (Part 1)}} As Bruticus, the Combaticons participated in the final battle with the Autobots at the North Pole, and retreated into space when Scorponok's energy-absorbing satellite started tearing the Earth apart. {{storylink|The Final Showdown on Earth (Part 2)}}
{{-}}

=====''Unite Warriors''=====
The Combaticons hosted an illegal arms trading market during which Onslaught purchased a variety of weapons from [[El Presidente]]. {{storylink|Unite Warriors Offshot#Shopping at the Dark Bazaar!|Shopping at the Dark Bazaar!}}

=====''Zone'' cartoon, manga, and story pages=====
Seeking to create a [[Decepticon Zone]] to counter the [[Micro|Autobot Zone]], [[Emperor of Destruction|Decepticon Emperor]] [[Violen Jiger]] gathered together the [[Nine Great Demon Generals]], upgrading them with powerful new armor and weaponry, then sent them forth to conquer planets. Onslaught was one of those summoned, but only as part of Bruticus. {{storylink|Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers: Zone (story page)|Zone Part 1}} {{storylink|Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers: Zone (manga)|Zone}} {{storylink|Enter the New Supreme Commander, Dai Atlas!}}

=====''United EX''=====
Onslaught of the Combaticons helped forge a new era of Decepticons combination warriors. With High Regent [[Scrash (OC)|Scrash]], he provided combination data from his Bruticus form to create the devastating [[Battle Gaia]], while undergoing his own enhancements to become strategic commander for the Master Chaos brigade as Combatmaster.

When [[Straxus (G1)|Rollermaster]] failed to defeat the Autobot [[Blaze Master|Choppermaster]] alone, Combatmaster travelled to Switzerland to finish the job. He stole the PCC Combat Drones from Choppermaster and buried the helicopter in an avalanche. Back at Decepticon headquarters, he and Scrash coordinated Battle Gaia's attack on the Autobots to help cover for the Master Chaos activities. {{storylink|Prelude to the Siege}}

Next, Combatmaster struck another drone-operating Master Class Autobot, the junior officer [[Rapido|Racemaster]]. Although his ambush was well positioned, Combatmaster did not account for the sheer speed Racemaster and his drones were capable of achieving. The Race Drones and their commander soon out-distanced Combatmaster and his artillery, making a successful getaway. {{storylink|Weapons of a New Generation}}

Later, Combatmaster and Master Chaos fought to defend a dig site from Autobot interference. {{storylink|Unearthed Future}}
{{-}}

====''Wings Universe''====
{{Wingsnote}}
In the early days of the war, Onslaught was a top Autobot cadet at [[Omnihelix Academy]], specializing in battle strategy and tactics. His skill was impressive that he was elected a field leader for the [[Cybertron Elite Guard|Autobot Elite Guard]] straight out of the Academy, acting as head of the experimental new Special Ops Team, the [[Combaticon (G1)|Combaticons]]. {{storylink|Hasbro Transformers Collectors' Club issue 33|Onslaught's profile in Club magazine #33}}

[[File:EliteGuardCombaticons TheComingStorm2.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.66|Sorry guys, I traded out our combining ability for this jacked up bod.]]
Onslaught and the Combaticons were assembled by [[Magnum]] and [[Sentinel Major]] to take out the various [[Decepticon Warlord|leaders]] of the new Decepticon faction, in the hopes of ending the war quickly. At Elite Guard headquarters they were introduced to one of the other recently minted units, [[Metalhawk (Masterforce)|Metalhawk]] and his Strike Team. {{storylink|The Coming Storm: Part 2}}

After a short exchange, Onslaught and Metalhawk brought their teams before [[Big Bang]] for their first mission together. It was a rather pedestrian assignment, lending military-grade explosives and know-how to a civilian archeological dig. The mission was primarily designed to smooth some ruffled feathers in the High Council about the Elite Guard in general.

Upon arrival in [[Median]], however, events became a bit more serious. The dig had uncovered Cybertronian construction facilities that indicated an inherent dichotomy in Transformer design. Onslaught personally scoffed at the scientists' theory that this dichotomy could explain and excuse the warlike nature of the Decepticon rebels, but the more pressing find was the second part of their discovery: a spark of unprecedented power called the [[Heart of the Dragon]], allegedly housing the essence of a Transformer whose power levels went off the scale. Decepticon rogues called the [[Stormtrooper (G1)|Stormtroopers]] had learned of the Heart, and were planning a raid on Median to steal it.

As the rest of the Elite Guard did their best to fortify the dilapidated city, Onslaught and Metalhawk grilled [[Flip Sides (G1)|Flipsides]] and the other dig members about the Stormtroopers and any information they had. When the attack came, Onslaught's plan took down the Stormtroopers' advance assault, [[Roadgrabber]] and his exo-shell, by hiding a pit behind an obviously weak part in the defenses as a lure. The Decepticon leader [[Rage (G1)|Rage]] and his three lieutenants managed to sweep by Metalhawk, however, forcing Onslaught's secondary team to hunt them down. The Stormtroopers split-and-run tactics were enough to keep all the Elite Guard chasing their tails long enough for Rage to grab the Heart, however. [[Terror-Tread]] and [[Cement-Head]], two massive Decepticons held in reverse, then surprised and distracted the Elite Guard long enough for Rage and the others to escape.

The Elite Guard chased the Stormtroopers back to their mobile base, the [[Metrotitan (Zone)|Metrotitan]]. Onslaught and the others managed to make their way inside, where they were confronted by [[Brimstone (G1 Decepticon)|Brimstone]], the reincarnated physical form of the Heart of the Dragon. Despite his small stature, Brimstone still had the ability to decouple molecules with his plasma breath, making him a formidable foe. Onslaught led the Elite Guard in a swift but strategic advance to the rear, giving [[Ironfist (G1)|Ironfist]] time to rig all his explosives for one massive blast. Although Brimstone was still standing after the blast, his outer casing had been damaged enough to let his internal energies rage out of control, destroying the Metrotitan in one enormous blast.

Back at Elite Guard headquarters, Onslaught and Metalhawk made their field reports to Magnum. Despite the unconventional nature of the mission in some regards, Magnum congratulated his men on a job well done. They were deployed again almost immediately for a mission to [[Praxium]]. {{storylink|Flames of Yesterday}}

The Special Ops Team and Strike Team worked so well as a combined unit that Magnum kept them together for several weeks. Onslaught and Metalhawk became close comrades, as did their men, sharing stories about the different warlords they brought down, such as [[Thunderwing (G1)|Thunderwing]] and [[Blue Bacchus]]. Onslaught was aware that Metalhawk could be squeamish about some of the darker parts of warfare, though, and so he made sure [[Brawl (G1)|Brawl]] and [[Vortex (G1)|Vortex]] had privacy during their interrogations of a Decepticon prisoner of war.

Onslaught coordinated their next strike against a Decepticon faction leader named [[Shadowcaster]]. Using explosives and fog grenades, the Elite Guard carried out Onslaught's battle plan, forcing Shadowcaster out in the open for the Combaticon leader to take out with a killshot. Despite the mission's success, Onslaught felt something was amiss. Shadowcaster hardly seemed the type to lead a parade, much less a Decepticon splinter cell. Smelling a larger party at work, Onslaught kept the Combaticons out in the field while Metalhawk and the Strike Team returned to base. Onslaught's instincts were right on target, but even they couldn't keep him and his team from being captured by Warlord [[Deathsaurus (Victory)|Deathsaurus]] and his troops. {{storylink|The Coming Storm: Part 3}}

After being held for some time in a cell behind unbreakable Oan force bars, Onslaught and the Combaticons were inexplicably released by the polite and apologetic [[Falcon (G1)|Falcon]] and [[Vanquish (G1)|Vanquish]]. Although wary of their intentions, Onslaught agreed to follow the Decepticons to Deathsaurus's throne room for a meeting. The silver-tongued Decepticon Warlord then proceeded to sway the Combaticons to his side. He appealed to Onslaught's pride and vanity, innocently mocking how easily the Combaticons were captured by his forces and intimating that all their greatest successes had been alongside the Strike Team, not on their own. After putting Onslaught on the defensive, Deathsaurus proclaimed how ''he'' truly believed in Onslaught's gift for tactics, and was willing to support the Combaticons in a bid to seize power for themselves. After all, how better to prove their superiority and ensure peace on Cybertron than to eliminate the Elite Guard and establish themselves in the Guard's place? Onslaught and his men gave in to their darker impulses and agreed to work alongside Deathsaurus, receiving the upgrades he promised them as well. {{storylink|The Coming Storm: Part 4}}

[[File:ComingStorm6-isthatso.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|And this, this IS MY BOOM STICK!!]]
Sometime later, the Combaticons launched their attack on Elite Guard headquarters accompanied by some of Deathsaurus's [[Seeker (body-type)|Skyraider-Seeker Brigade]]. Onslaught chose not to reveal their trump card until the Combaticons appeared surrounded and defeated by the Guard. He then initiated their combination into the massive [[Bruticus (G1)|Bruticus]], crushing their former commanding officer Sentinel Major in one mighty hand. {{storylink|The Coming Storm: Part 5}} Bruticus killed most of the assembled Guard before [[Dion]] was able to blind the giant, forcing the Combaticons to disengage. Onslaught reacted to Metalhawk standing in their way by simply blowing a hole through his old comrade, and the Combaticons headed back to Deathsaurus's base for repairs, but not before Onslaught promised they'd be back to deal with the Council. {{storylink|The Coming Storm: Part 6}}

During repairs, Onslaught was stunned to learn that Deathsaurus had had it rigged so that the combination into Bruticus could be triggered at Deathsaurus's will. Protesting that it wasn't part of the deal, Onslaught was nonetheless forced to form the torso of Bruticus, though the blinded giant proved difficult for Deathsaurus's Constructicons to control. {{storylink|Battle Lines, Part 1}} {{storylink|Battle Lines, Part 2}} The Combaticons subsequently defended the base against Magnum and the remains of the Elite Guard. Onslaught confirmed to Magnum that Deathsaurus hadn't tampered with the Combaticons' brain modules at all, and they'd turned of their own free will. As they fought the Guard, Onslaught taunted [[Thunder Clash]] while he was grappling with [[Landshark (G1)|Landshark]], much to the latter Autobot's annoyance. Finally he ordered the Combaticons to merge, only them to be blasted mid-combination. {{storylink|Battle Lines, Part 3}}

To Onslaught's dismay, the culprits were more survivors the massacre at Elite Guard HQ. He agreed with Brawl's sentiment that they should take the opportunity to end some more Autobots and started to give the command to attempt another merge, only to find that Blast Off was inconveniently missing. When Deathsaurus called a retreat, Onslaught briefly considered staying to find Blast Off, and his hesitation allowed [[Flak (G1)|Flak]] to belt him. He and his entire team were subsequently taken captive by the Autobots. {{storylink|Battle Lines, Part 4}}

In the hands of the compromised [[Gyronian Sentry|Gyronian Sentry Team]], the Combaticons were whisked away to Deathsaurus's fortress, now under Megatron's control. Though Megatron gave them the option, none of them cared to help Deathsaurus, and they were imprisoned and their personality components subsequently interred in the Decepticon Detention Center. {{storylink|Battle Lines, Part 5}}

===Marvel Comics continuity===
====Marvel ''The Transformers'' comics====
{{noteukonly}}

Onslaught was the leader of the Combaticons, ''one of the [[Special Teams]], whose coming was foretold by the [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix]]. In a vision shared by Buster Witwicky and Optimus Prime, the Combaticons and the Stunticons clashed against the Aerialbots and the Protectobots within proximity to the [[Pullen Power Plant]].'' {{storylink|The Special Teams Have Arrived}} {{storylink|Second Generation!}} Onslaught and his team were first seen on Earth launching a raid on a hydrothermocline plant, where they were met by the [[Protectobot (G1)|Protectobots]]. In order to avoid destroying the plant, and at the behest of the human [[Ethan Zachary]], both Optimus and Megatron agreed to have their team fight inside the [[Multi-World]] computer game. The Decepticons didn't fare too well. Onslaught faced off against Hot Spot in the game's "Slimepit" area, where he got "fused by a fireball" and his in-game avatar was destroyed. In the end, however, [[Megatron (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Megatron]] would win the game when [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Optimus Prime]] forfeited, causing the Autobot leader to be destroyed. Onslaught carried Megatron's prize, the [[hydrothermocline]], back to base. {{storylink|Afterdeath!}} ''These events were observed by the [[time travel]]ling [[Dicet Alpha-zero]].'' {{storylink|The Quest!}}

As the Decepticons prepared to abandon their [[Wyoming base]] to relocate to [[Club Con|a new island headquarters]], Onslaught bore witness as his teammate Brawl attempted to cheer up a despondent Megatron by reminding him of Prime's death, but Megatron responded by crushing Brawl's head in a fit of rage. [[Shockwave (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Shockwave]] took charge of the evacuation, and Onslaught and the others departed. {{storylink|Gone but Not Forgotten!}}

''Later on, Onslaught led his team (including a repaired Brawl) to kill [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]] while he was trapped in the cooled lava flow of [[Mount Verona]]. After making short work of the human military encamped on the site, the Combaticons set up explosive charges around the volcano to obliterate the entire area. The operation was met with the interference of [[Cindy Newell|three]] [[Susan Hoffman|human]] [[Joy Meadows|women]], though Onslaught managed to evade their traps. He had them at his mercy after the rest of his troops wound up incapacitated by their efforts, only to be met at gunpoint by [[Bumblebee (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Goldbug]] and the [[Throttlebot]]s. Onslaught fled, swearing vengeance against the Autobots.'' {{storylink|Ladies' Night (issue)|Ladies' Night}} ''In response to that humiliation,'' Onslaught and the Combaticons hunted the Throttlebots down. The Throttlebots were trapped in a used car lot and the Combaticons were forced to bid for them in an auction against RAAT and the Protectobots, but Onslaught cut through this by trying to have the lot's owner assassinated. RAAT would get the Throttlebots and the Combaticons were beaten by [[Blaster (G1)|Blaster]]. {{storylink|Used Autobots}} However, Blaster had been arrested by the Protectobots under orders from the current Autobot commander, [[Grimlock (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Grimlock]]. Onslaught and his team chose to track the Protectobots on their return journey to the Ark, and ambushed them as they drove through a sprawling train yard. Once he and his teammates were in position, Onlaught had the Combaticons merge into Bruticus, who downed the similarly-combined [[Defensor (G1)|Defensor]] after a prolonged battle. But the dim-witted Bruticus was tricked by Blaster into lowering his guard, who then collapsed an electrical tower atop of him, knocking him out. Whereas the rest of the team was left where they lay, [[Blast Off (G1)|Blast Off]] was captured by the enemy. {{storylink|Child's Play (issue)|Child's Play}}

[[File:Onslaught Marvel41.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|[[Wikipedia:Onslaught (comics)|BEHOLD MY MIGHTY HAND!]]]]
Onslaught was on the Decepticons' island base when Shockwave and [[Ratbat (G1)|Ratbat]] launched it into space to prevent the Autobots from rescuing their prisoner, [[Buster Witwicky (G1)|Buster Witwicky]]. As Shockwave was sent plunging back into the Earth's atmosphere, Onslaught found himself under Ratbat's command. {{storylink|The Desert Island of Space!}} Onslaught's shining moment came when he got to lead a massed Decepticon assault on the Autobots, which came close to wiping them all out. [[Blaster (G1)|Blaster]] and [[Grimlock (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Grimlock]], who had been dueling for supremacy over the Autobots at the time, were able to put aside their differences however, and rallied their troops against the Decepticons' attack. {{storylink|Totaled!}}

Some time later, the Decepticons acquired two dormant [[Raindance|Autobot]] [[Grand Slam (G1)|mini-cassettes]] carrying data on the powerful [[Underbase]]. Once Buster was put through a [[Realvision]] simulation to test out the simulator itself, Onslaught helped escort the boy back to his cell, allowing Ratbat and Starscream to view the data privately. {{storylink|The Flames of Boltax!}}

''Eventually, the Combaticons fell under the command of [[Scorponok (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Scorponok]]. On his orders, Onslaught's team staged a raid on the [[Rutter U.S. Military Base]]. There, they secured two armed warheads and components from an advanced guidance computer. The Protectobots intervened part-way through the theft, but once Blast Off cleared the area with the loot, the rest of the team used hit-and-run tactics to fend their rivals off, eventually managing their own getaway.''

''Afterwards, the remaining Combaticons went to check on [[Darkwing]] and [[Dreadwind (G1)|Dreadwind]]'s progress at [[Alternate Reality, Inc.]], where Scorponok had likewise tasked them to steal a [[floppy disk]] containing a back-up copy of Optimus Prime's mind. They found [[Defensor (G1)|Defensor]] about to shoot the jets out of the sky, and blasted the Combiner in the back, crippling him before he could pull the trigger. With the mission a success, Onslaught's group then made themselves scarce.'' {{storylink|Prime Bomb!}}

=====Marvel UK future timelines=====
[[File:Soundwave decepticons space pirates.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.5|"It's okay, the foot shall lead you now!"]]
In an alternate timeline after the attack of [[Unicron]] in 2006, Onslaught was still active in 2008 and was one of [[Soundwave (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Soundwave]]'s top lieutenants. After Soundwave learned that most of the Autobots were allegedly off-world, he led a massive attack on the Autobot-controlled territories in order to once and for all gain control of Cybertron. The information proved false, and the Decepticons were caught in a [[Quintesson]] ambush. They were forced to call upon the Autobots for help in thwarting the aliens' forced colonization of Cybertron. {{storylink|Space Pirates!}}
{{-}}

====''Transformers Comic-Magazin''====
{{charstubfiction|{{storylink|Transformers Comic-Magazin issue 11|Transformers in Action: He Who Laughs Last ...}}}}

====Marvel ''Generation 2'' comic====
Onslaught was one of the Decepticons operating aboard the [[Warworld]]. At the death of [[Mindset (G2)|Mindset]], a [[Cybertronian (faction)|Cybertronian]] killed light years away, Onslaught was briefly overcome by pain, hinting of a genetic connection between these two. {{storylink|Swarm (issue)|Swarm}} When legions of enemy Cybertronians boarded the Warworld, Onslaught and the Combaticons stood against them. He was likely off-lined in the skirmish that ensued. {{storylink|Total War!}}

===Ladybird Books continuity===
Onslaught was among the Decepticons under [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]]'s leadership, who set up a hidden base in a human industrial estate not far from [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]]. Following a failed raid on the Autobot fortress, Onslaught carried a recovery crew out to pick up the damaged [[Brawl (G1)|Brawl]]. They returned to base, unaware that they'd been followed by [[Bumblebee (G1)|Bumblebee]], and a short time later they were chased out of the base by the full Autobot force. {{storylink|Decepticon Hideout}}

===The Special Teams===
Onslaught and the rest of the Combaticons were created by Starscream on a remote Pacific island, by combining military vehicles with Energon cubes. They then drove to the [[Pullen Power Plant]], passing Optimus Prime en route, though the Autobot leader was none-the-wiser to the Decepticons in disguise. Onslaught, Brawl and Swindle arrived first on the battlefield, coming upon Menasor already engaged in battle with Defensor. Onslaught then ordered to rest of his team to merge with him to form Bruticus. {{storylink|The Special Teams}}
{{-}}

===St. Michael ''The Transformers'' Sticker Book===
{{notemultipath}}
Onslaught and the rest of the Combaticons served under [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]] on a Decepticon ship, when they managed to shoot down the ship being captained by Ultra Magnus. After the Autobots crash-landed on planet [[Barrenikon]], the Decepticons landed their ship nearby to finish off their enemies. In the many possible adventures that followed, Onslaught and the other Decepticons often underestimated you, which often led to them losing to the Autobots, leaving them either stranded on Barrenikon, or fleeing after they received too much damage. That is, if you somehow didn't get yourself killed at their hands. {{storylink|The Transformers Sticker Book (St. Michael)|The Transformers Sticker Book}}
{{-}}

===Dreamwave ''Generation One'' continuity===
[[File:Onslaughtwarwithin.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|Those Autobots are in for some "wheel" trouble now!]]
Onslaught unleashed his considerable firepower against the Autobots during the Decepticon assault against [[Iacon (polity)|Iacon]], {{storylink|The War Within issue 4|The War Within #4}} and was on the front lines when the Decepticons managed to breach the last of the Autobots' defenses and penetrated the [[Decagon]]. {{storylink|The War Within issue 4|The War Within #5}} He and his fellow Combaticons were later upgraded into Combiners. After the Crisis Intervention Accords were enacted, however, it is unknown if Onslaught joined up separately with any faction.

After the Great Shutdown and the peace that followed it, Onslaught and the Combaticons were labeled as war criminals and held in stasis in a penitentiary. {{storylink|Cold War (issue)|Cold War}} That is, at least until Starscream freed them, and loaded them up aboard a [[Sky Lynx (G1)|shuttle]], planning to use their might to plunder Earth. {{storylink|Revelation (War and Peace)|Revelation}}

Returning to the ''[[Nemesis (G1)|Nemesis]]'' via an uncooperative [[Sky Lynx (G1)|Sky Lynx]], Starscream realized he needed to take parts from the Autobots' [[Ark (G1)|Ark]] if he ever hoped to get the ''Nemesis'' flying again, and for that he needed considerable firepower. Fortunately, there was a nearby abandoned military testing ground from which the Combaticons could scan Earth-based alternate modes. {{storylink|Black Sunshine}} When the attack on the ''Ark'' was launched, the Autobots had little problem defending against the first wave, successfully capturing [[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave]], [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]] and [[Thundercracker (G1)|Thundercracker]], but several of the Autobots were soundly beaten when the Combaticons showed up and combined into the mighty Bruticus. The behemoth attacked the ''Ark'' freeing his Decepticon compatriots before going after [[Brawn (G1)|Brawn]] and [[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]]. Unfortunately, the Autobots activated their ship's self-destruct before escaping, damaging the Combaticons in the resulting explosion. {{storylink|Night of the Combaticons}}

Damaged or not, the Combaticons soon had to face a powerful enemy when the crazed zealot [[Sunstorm (G1)|Sunstorm]] appeared on Earth, but before they could attack him, Bruticus' head was blown apart by [[Cliffjumper (G1)|Cliffjumper]] in the Autobot supply ship ''[[Orion]]''. In the aftermath, Bruticus's barely-conscious body was battered upon by an angry Brawn. {{storylink|Black Sunshine}} Onslaught and the other Decepticons were made the Autobots' prisoners, until Starscream negotiated a deal for their release in exchange for his aid against Sunstorm. {{storylink|Skyfire (issue)|Skyfire}}

[[File:Onslaught G1DW routeofallevil.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Well, isn't he a bossy one...]]
The repaired Combaticons were brought to Guadalcanal where they could hone their somewhat lackluster combat skills and listen to Starscream's long-winded aspirations of glory. Starscream ordered them to defeat the magnificent Autobot [[Sky Lynx (G1)|Sky Lynx]] as a means to train themselves for greater battles. Unfortunately, the Combaticons did not fare well when the crafty Autobot split into his two forms, with Onslaught nearly crushed by the Lynx's right paw as he was issuing orders. After Starscream deactivated Sky Lynx, Onslaught berated his team as buffoons for not paying attention to his battle plan.

This was the least of their troubles, however, as [[Predaking (G1)|Predaking]] showed up as soon after Sky Lynx shut down. Onslaught ordered his men to keep moving and maintain formation so as to remain smaller, faster targets, then as they neared Predaking, formed Bruticus. This encounter did not end well either... {{storylink|The Route of All Evil}}
{{-}}

===''Transformers Legends'' anthology===
The discovery that Swindle was selling Decepticon weapons on the black market lead Megatron to berate Onslaught on his inability to keep his team member under control. Onslaught asked for another chance to get Swindle under control, but Megatron denied his request, giving [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]] the task of bringing Swindle in. {{storylink|Two for the Price of One}}

===''G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers''===
The Combaticons were among the Decepticon army on Cybertron when [[Serpentor|Serpent O.R.]] took control of it. As the new Decepticon leader was assaulted by Optimus Prime, he called Onslaught and several other subgroup leaders to his aid. Prime fought back, grabbing [[Razorclaw (G1)|Razorclaw]]'s [[sword]] and slashing Onslaught with it. It is unclear if this killed him or merely damaged him, but Onslaught wasn't seen for the remainder of the battle. {{storylink|The Art of War issue 5|The Art of War #5}}

===''The Beast Within''===
Onslaught participated in a savage all-out Decepticon offensive against the Autobots. With the Decepticons maintaining the advantage throughout the battle, Onslaught was amongst those who approached a crippled Optimus Prime, ready to dispatch the Autobot leader. Before they could deliver the finishing blow, the Dinobots combined into [[Beast (G1)|The Beast]], shifting the Decepticons’ priorities. Onslaught combined with his fellow Combaticons in order to square off against The Beast. {{storylink|The Beast Within}}
{{-}}

===IDW Generation 1 continuity===
{{ongoing}}
[[File:Autocracy12-BrawlOnslaughtSkullgrinBlitzwing.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.66|Who died and put ''Blitzwing'' in charge of ''me''?]]
Onslaught was one of many bots to come from distant regions of Cybertron to attend Megatron's speeches and demonstrations of power as the Decepticon faction began to take shape. {{storylink|Megatron Origin issue 3|Megatron Origin #3}}

After the execution of [[Zeta Prime]] and the Decepticon rise to power, Onslaught fought alongside [[Blitzwing (G1)|Blitzwing]], [[Skullgrin]], and [[Brawl (G1)|Brawl]] against an Autobot resurgence. They were driven back by the [[Dinobot (G1)|Dynobots]]. {{storylink|Endgame}} When [[Scorponok (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Scorponok]] took command of the Decepticons, the Combaticons rebelled and left Cybertron, becoming mercenaries. While breaking into a weapons vault on the [[Presidium (planet)|Presidium]] they were approached by [[Starscream (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Starscream]] and offered ample payment for returning to the Decepticon fold, which Onslaught accepted. {{storylink|Primacy issue 2|Primacy #2}} He went on to participate in [[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]]'s all-out attack on [[Iacon (polity)|Iacon]] {{storylink|Primacy issue 3|Primacy #3}} where he attacked [[Hot Rod/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Hot Rod]], seeing the Autobot's destruction as his ticket into [[Decepticon High Command]]. He was stopped when the disillusioned Decepticon [[Slinger]] shot him in the eyes. {{storylink|Primacy issue 4|Primacy #4}}

[[File:SpotlightArcee Onslaught.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|[[JaAm|Crumplezone! Hump that tank!]]]]
As the war went on, Onslaught led the Combaticon tactical unit assigned to the [[Decepticon Secret Service]] under [[Banzai-Tron (G1)|Banzaitron]]'s command. They were the storming squad which participated in the ground assault raid of the [[Garrus-9]] penal facility, successfully blasting their way through Autobot resistance and capturing [[Pretender Monster|the "gestalt" transformers]]. He was the only one not to wee himself over [[Arcee (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|the raging death that is Arcee]], and he berated the other Combaticons for fearing her. {{storylink|Spotlight: Arcee}}

After a deal was negotiated between Arcee and Banzaitron, Onslaught and the other Combaticons later helped her in an attempt to recapture [[Monstructor (G1)|Monstructor]] (who had been stolen by [[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]] and [[Nova Prime|Nemesis Prime]]'s forces), though the insane Autobot disappeared mid-battle. {{storylink|Spotlight: Sideswipe}}

A few years later, Onslaught went to [[Earth]], where he was captured by the human organization [[Skywatch]]. He was among the deactivated captives retrieved by [[Hot Rod/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Hot Rod]]'s team as they searched for more allies for their quest to get off the planet. {{storylink|Things Fall Apart, Part 2: "A Rude Awakening"|A Rude Awakening}} When Swindle unleashed Menasor on the Autobots and the combiner was defeated, Onslaught was one of the Decepticons who managed to slip away. {{storylink|Things Fall Apart, Part 5: "Earthworks"|Earthworks}}

[[File:Land Ironclads Onlsaught Drinks.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.5|It has a mouth! It has a mouth!!!!]]
After reuniting with Brawl and Vortex, Onslaught was hired by [[North Korea]]n leader [[Kim Jong Du]] to lead an attack on [[South Korea]], destroying a South Korean military outpost at the de-militarized zone in the process. He was surprised by a shot from a tank, but Brawl and Vortex quickly joined in and wiped out the human forces. This attack was directly responsible for the [[President of the United States]] declaring any country working with Cybertronians was considered in possession of weapons of mass destruction. {{storylink|International Incident Part 1: "The Land Ironclads"|The Land Ironclads}} None of the Combaticons much enjoyed working for humans, but unfortunately these humans knew more about the production of [[energon]] than they did. Onslaught assured the others he was formulating a better plan, but it was clear that they needed Swindle for these situations. As the Combaticons argued amongst themselves, the Autobots and [[Skywatch]] performed a surprise attack on them. Onslaught and the others were overwhelmed at first, but soon turned the tide after noting that the Autobots were forced to stay in their vehicle modes and that their only air support was a [[Jetfire (G1)|scientist]]. They took out two Autobots and fled back to North Korea without suffering much damage. {{storylink|International Incident Part 2: "Ranks of Bronze"|Ranks of Bronze}}

[[File:Hawk Among the Sparrows Onslaught vs Optimus.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Seriously man, I don't swing that way!]]
As Onslaught toasted to their victory in North Korea, the Autobots returned and resumed their assault, having dealt with their transformation issue. [[Optimus Prime (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Optimus Prime]] began wrestling with Onslaught while also telling him that helping the humans with their infighting would only lead to chaos. Onslaught was unimpressed by his words, since the Autobots had their own human "masters" in Skywatch, but found himself defeated when rebellious Decepticon [[Thundercracker (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Thundercracker]] bombed him. {{storylink|International Incident Part 3: "Hawk Among the Sparrows"|Hawk Among the Sparrows}} As the battle got close to the [[China|Chinese]] border, the combatants found that the [[Predacon (G1)|Predacons]] had allied themselves with the Chinese government just like the Combaticons had with North Korea. The Predacons were willing to let them off with a warning, but as they turned to leave, Onslaught decided to shake things up by shooting [[Rampage (G1)|Rampage]] in the back. [[File:All My Sins Remembered Heheheh.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.9|[[Runamuck (G1)|Heh heh, fire. Fire.]]]] Mistaking this for an Autobot attack, the Predacons attacked Optimus Prime and the others, while Onslaught presumably giggled to himself. The battle ended when [[Russia]] attempted to nuke everyone present: Onslaught confirmed this via radio contact with the North Koreans. In the end, the Combaticons were set free as the Autobots didn't have the resources to keep them as prisoners, but their alliance with Kim Jong Du ended with a boom as Thundercracker bombed North Korea's energon factories. {{storylink|International Incident Part 4: "All My Sins Remembered"|All My Sins Remembered}}

When the war ended, Onslaught returned to Cybertron with a large group of Decepticons. The Decepticons felt oppressed under a provisional government of Autobots, [[NAIL|Non-Aligned Cybertronians]], and... Starscream. Starscream approached Onslaught to buy his services as he made his play for Iacon's leadership. In exchange for protecting him from those like the [[Decepticon Justice Division]] or unruly bots, Starscream would allow Onslaught a position of power when the time came. {{storylink|Applicable Skills}} When Megatron arrived at the new Cybertronian settlements, Onslaught and the other Decepticons began rioting in the streets to celebrate his return. {{storylink|City on Fire}} When Starscream successfully became the ruler of Iacon, he reneged on his deal with Onslaught, who was furious over the betrayal. {{storylink|Applicable Skills}} Following [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]]'s installation as Cybertron's new capital, Onslaught and many other disgruntled Decepticons chose to live in slums outside the city instead. When they caught Optimus Prime making his way through their territory, many of them formed a mob and attacked him. {{storylink|City of Steel (issue)|City of Steel}} He later skulked by as a group of Camiens were passing out fliers regarding Optimus Prime's divinity in the district. {{storylink|The Transgressors}}

He later rejoined his fellow Combaticon teammates as they stewed over Starscream's leadership, and upon throwing an energon canister at a viewscreen promoting his success in uniting some of the lost colonies, Onslaught declared that they wouldn't let Starscream forget the past, not without having to go through them first. They sprayed "SWINDLE LIVES" on a wall {{storylink|The Will of the Few}} thanks to being informed by an anonymous informant, "[[DC-357]]", that Swindle was alive and had damaging info on Starscream. {{storylink|07:00:00}} In light of the newly announced "Chosen One Day", Onslaught got a new grenade as a gift from his teammates. {{storylink|Choose Me}}

At Brawl's suggestion, Onslaught rejoined the Decepticon movement as they prepared for [[Galvatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Galvatron's]] conquest of Earth. Brawl and Needlenose led a team of Decepticons to the Space Bridge nexus, where they transported aboard the ''[[Ark-7]]'' to overpower the Autobots in Earth orbit. {{storylink|Conquerors Part 2: Lagrange|Lagrange}} Onslaught and the Decepticons engaged Arcee, [[Sideswipe (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Sideswipe]] and [[Alpha Trion]] before the ship crashed into Shanghai, China. {{storylink|Conquerors Part 4: Perihelion|Perihelion}} When that all went tits up, he abandoned the operation on Earth and fled back to Cybertron, where he continued to search the underbelly of Cybertron for the missing Swindle.

[[file:Onslaught_Riot_from_Applicable_Skills_Open_Road.jpg|thumb|upright=1|frame|left|230x230px|[https://youtu.be/esE_uA-XkJ8 MY NAME IS ONSLAUGHT AND I HATE STARSCREAMS]]]As the [[Badgeless]] began to brutalise Decepticons for information, Onslaught became sure DC-357 was onto something but the other Combaticons became worried he was ''too'' focused, costing them paying jobs. The idea of dropping the search made Onslaught storm off in a huff, {{storylink|07:00:00}} and when he came back, he found riots breaking out over a police killing. He decided they shouldn't touch this as it was likely to turn the colonists against their cause and he felt this might be a Stasrcream plot to draw them out. That's when Blast Off admitted he'd ''done'' the killing in disguise as a Badgeless, so he could film it, send it to the press, and provoke an uprising. Onslaught hit on a sneaky plan: he started a large protest that marched on Starscream to shake the tree and see what happened, and when what happened was Ironhide was made head of the cops and opened them up to anyone who wanted. Onslaught then started a fight so that Blast Off could 'stop him' and 'denounce' his plans, thus getting into the police as someone Ironhide would trust. Blast Off did the deed so well, Onslaught was proud! {{storylink|Applicable Skills}}

Onslaught eventually learned from Blast Off that Wheeljack and Rattrap had taken Swindle. Outraged, Onslaught took Brawl and went to Rattrap's, brutally beating him down to figure out where he took Swindle. Soon Vortex and Blast Off arrived with Chromia and Wheeljack, and Onslaught and the other Combaticons forced them to lead them to the brain-dead Swindle. Onslaught was unperturbed by Swindle's condition, and forced Rattrap to retrieve the [[Enigma of Combination]]. {{storylink|Things We Said We'd Never Do}} Onslaught used the Enigma on himself and his team, forming [[Bruticus (G1)|Bruticus]], hoping that he might be able to access the dirt Swindle had on Starscream. As Bruticus rampaged through Iacon, within the combiner's psyche, Onslaught soon found what he was looking for. Though Windblade tried to appeal to Onslaught within the combiner to help her take down Starscream with their evidence, it was to no avail. Eventually Ironhide was forced to fire a rocket at Bruticus' head, and the shock forced the Combaticons to disconnect. Windblade frantically tried to get Onslaught and the Combaticons to wake up to share what they had learned, but failed. {{storylink|The Line Between Us}}

Onslaught and his fellow Combaticons were imprisoned and awaiting trial, though Ironhide was reluctant to prosecute them if their mental scarring proved too great. {{storylink|Ping}}
{{-}}

===''Universe'' toy bio===
Delighting in successful strikes on the Autobots, Onslaught was the type to remain out of battle to direct tactics. His entrance into the battlefield was typically a sign that something had gone wrong with the plan. {{storylink|#Uni08Ultra|''Universe'' Ultra Class Onslaught toy bio}}

===''Henkei! Henkei! Generations'' manga===
When the [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]] of another universe attempted to attack [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]], Onslaught and [[Astrotrain (G1)|Astrotrain]] defended their leader. However, Starscream possessed Onslaught and began wrecking havoc with his body. Starscream was exorcised out of his host after [[Mirage (G1)|Mirage]] projected an illusory [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]], scaring Starscream back to his home dimension. {{storylink|Starscream's New Body}}

===''Transformers: All Spark''===
{{charstubfiction}}
{{storylink|Another Episode, Part 1}} {{storylink|Another Episode, Part 2}}

===Starscream's New Power===
Onslaught attempted to apprehend Starscream, only to be driven back when the latter managed to get his hands on some weapons from Shockwave's lab. {{storylink|Starscream's New Power}}

===''Kre-O'' online manga===
Summoned by Starscream to act as his elite squad (whose first mission, of course, was to overthrow [[Megatron (Kre-O)|Megatron]]), Onslaught rolled onto the scene alongside [[Brawl (G1)|Brawl]], [[Swindle (G1)|Swindle]], and [[Vortex (G1)|Vortex]] (who Starscream had swayed to his side by making him one of his elites and even threw in a new paintjob). He boasted that they could leave the strategy to him, and was irritated when Vortex offered to stay behind and guard the base. When the Combaticons combined into Bruticus, Vortex constant worry for the base's safety compelled the team to withdraw. When Starscream, under imminent threat of a beating from Megatron, contacted the team to demand to know where they were, Onslaught joined his teammates in happily informing their illustrious leader they were all protecting the base together. Aww. {{Storylink|New Military Unit Combaticon! Bruticus, Combine!}}

===''Cloud''===
{{charstubfiction|{{storylink|Awakening (Cloud)|Awakening}} {{storylink|Eagerness}}{{storylink|TFC-A01}}}}

===''Transformers vs. G.I. Joe''===
The Combaticons infiltrated [[G.I. Joe (team)|G.I. Joe]] disguised as their vehicles, with Onslaught taking on the form of [[Ghostrider]]'s stealth bomber. During the Decepticon-[[Cobra]] attack on the [[United Nations]], the Combaticons revealed themselves and combined into Bruticus to fight [[GIJONIN]]. {{storylink|Expelled from the Garden}}
{{-}}

===''Combiner Wars'' cartoon===
Onslaught was among the Decepticon troops who bore witness to a pivotal duel between Optimus Prime and Megatron, one meant to end the war before the never-ending arms race between the two factions spiralled further out of control. {{storylink|Prelude to Transformers: Combiner Wars - Optimus Prime}}

==Commercial appearances==
*Onslaught, [[Brawl (G1)|Brawl]], and [[Swindle (G1)|Swindle]] were part of a Decepticon attack force that assaulted the Autobots' launch site. All three were rammed by Ultra Magnus in his vehicle mode as he entered the fray. {{storylink|Commercial/Generation 1#Ultra Magnus|Ultra Magnus commercial}}
*Onslaught and the rest of the Combaticons charged down a ravine to face-off against [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]]. As they neared him, the Combaticons combined into Bruticus and took to the skies. {{storylink|Commercial/Generation 1#Bruticus and Metroplex|Bruticus and Metroplex commercial}}
Onslaught was part of a massive battle between Kreons. He and the Combaticons combined into Bruticus to gain the advantage in battle, and then chased the Autobots off alongside [[Predaking (G1)|Predaking]]. {{storylink|Commercial#Kre-O|KRE-O Transformers Micro Changers and Combiners Construction Sets commercial}}

==Games==
===''The Transformers'' (PS2)===
{{Note|Onslaught is a non-playable character. He appears among the legion of Decepticon duplicates in the Autobot campaign.}}
{{storylink|The Transformers (PS2)|The Transformers}}
{{-}}

===''Transformers Legends''===
In the early days of the war, Megatron tasked Onslaught and [[Dead End (G1)|Dead End]] with breaching Iacon's defences. The two Decepticons were opposed by [[Bumblebee (G1)|Bumblebee]] and [[Warpath (G1)|Warpath]], and were ultimately unsuccessful in taking the city due to [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]]'s involvement. {{storylink|Assault on Iacon}}

Onslaught was active in the Decepticon/Autobot war when [[Doctor Arkeville]] created [[Nemesis Prime (G1)|Nemesis Prime]]. He didn't take an active role when the Doctor's creation went on a rampage and was stopped by the [[Aerialbot (G1)|Aerialbots]] however. {{storylink|Nemesis Rising}}

===''Transformers: Battle Tactics''===
[[File:BattleTacticsOnslaught.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.6]]
Onslaught participated in battles against a variety of opponents, both Autobots and Decepticons. Sometimes there were many of him! He was a Super Rare character who could be recruited by collecting 250 units of Cybermetal, 75 units of Transmetal, and 10 cores of this character. {{storylink|Transformers: Battle Tactics}}

===''Transformers: Earth Wars''===
[[file:OnslaughtEarthWars.jpg|thumb|upright=2| Tactical Oversight? Nah. Just lots of BOOM.]]
It would be easy to dismiss Onslaught as a brutish thug. But to him his greatest weapon is not his photon missiles, but his amazing tactical mind.

The key to victory is planning, and Onslaught executes his strategies with exacting and dispassionate logic. It's only when things don't go to plan that he gets frustrated and lashes out.
Which, admittedly, is often. VERY often.
{{storylink|Transformers: Earth Wars| Onslaught Bio}}

Onslaught is one of Megatron's more elite warriors, and he is leader of the [[Combaticon (G1)|Combaticons]] on Cybertron, save Swindle. He is contacted by Megatron to get them to earth. He arrives in time for the battle of the Codex Key. He really hates Swindle for leaving the Combaticons for profit, seeing as it left the Combaticons at a tactical disadvantage.

When Megatron states he needs a new combiner to take on Optimus's new combiner, he immediately <s>forces</s> "recruits" the combaticons to form their gestalt Bruticus, despite Onslaught's complaints they are not ready to unleash Bruticus yet. {{storylink|Transformers: Earth Wars}}

*'''Class''': Special
*'''Lowest star rating''': 3 Star (2 star beta)
*'''Weapons''': Onslaught uses a unique Grenade launcher custom modified to lay down a blanket of grenades onto the battlefield. It deals heavy damage to any target, or anything around it for that matter, Onslaught has in sights. '''KABOOM!'''
*'''Ability: Line barrage''': Shoots 12 small rockets from long range delivering damage in a line across the target.
**'''Ability Cost''': 7 ability points. +3 for continued usage.
{{-}}

==Toys==
===Generation 1===
[[File:G1Onslaught toy.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|The Real American Decepticon]]
*'''Onslaught''' ([[1986]], [[1991]])
**''Team ID number:'' '''C5'''
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''D-64'''
**''Accessories'': "[[Sonic stun-gun]]" rifle, double-barreled turret, chest shield, ramp, Bruticus chest shield, Bruticus head, left & right Bruticus fists, left & right Bruticus foot stands

:Originally designed for the aborted ''[[Diaclone]]'' line ''Jizai Gattai'' ("Free Combination") and then brought over to the ''Transformers'' toyline, Onslaught transforms into a dark blue and green mobile anti-aircraft truck of made-up origin, armed with a large double-barreled cannon mounted on the flatbed of his vehicle mode. Like all of the original four [[Scramble City (toyline)|Scramble City]]-style combiner team leaders, he can also assume a base/gun emplacement mode with a ramp that smaller Combaticons can use, which can be connected to both the Autobot city [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]] (a feature not mentioned in either toy's instructions, for obvious reasons) and to the Decepticon city [[Trypticon (G1)|Trypticon]] (a feature only documented in Trypticon's instructions). As with [[Motormaster (G1)|Motormaster]] and [[Silverbolt (G1)|Silverbolt]], Onslaught was originally designed to feature a spring-loaded launching mechanism in base mode that would propel the smaller vehicles off him. Hasbro dropped the feature, perhaps [[for safety reasons]], but it was retained on the Japanese edition of the figure.

:In robot mode, Onslaught is armed with a long olive [[sonic stun-gun]] and is accessorized by a small chest plate. The gun can store on his backpack in either mode via two rectangular pegs which hold onto his gun sight. Holes in the side of the gun are, probably coincidentally, just the right size to peg in the smaller weapons from the other Combaticons—a feature that would be canonized only for the later Ruination version of the mold.

:Onslaught combines with the other Combaticon toys into Bruticus, forming the central body component of the super-robot with the addition of a large silver chest plate and Bruticus's head. He also comes with Bruticus's hands and feet.

:The complete set of Combaticons were re-released in the European-market "[[Classics (Europe)|Classics]]" line in 1991; these releases typically have the [[rubsign]] indent removed from the molding. However, Onslaught has his indent intact, and the indent remains even in more recent reuses of the mold.

:This mold was [[redeco]]ed as ''[[Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers: Operation Combination (toyline)|Operation Combination]]'' [[Great Cannon]], as well as [[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 toyline)|2001 ''Robots in Disguise'']] and ''[[Transformers: Universe (2003 toyline)|Universe]]'' [[Mega-Octane]].

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1986/Decepticon/Onslaught/onslaught.htm More information on Onslaught at TFU.info]''
{{-}}
{{anchor|Bruticus}}
*'''Bruticus''' (multi-pack, [[1985]])
**''Japanese ID number'': '''D-69'''

:In addition to his single release, Onslaught was also sold in a "Bruticus" [[giftset]] alongside the other Combaticons. The gift set was never available in the USA or Canada, but only in [[Japan]] and [[Italy]].
{{-}}

===''Generation 2''===
[[File:G2Onslaught toy.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|[[Tom Kenny|I'm a Goofy Goober, yeah!]]]]
*'''Onslaught''' ([[1993]])
**''Team ID number:'' '''C5'''
**''Accessories'': "Sonic stun gun" rifle, double-barreled turret, missile launcher, 2 missiles, chest shield, ramp, Bruticus chest shield, Bruticus head, left & right Bruticus fists, left & right Bruticus foot stands

:In ''Generation 2'', Onslaught was redecoed in a rather outlandish colour scheme of bright orange covered in purple camouflage, with purple replacing most of his olive and silver colours. The stickers on the back of his truck proudly state that he is indeed Onslaught. In this form he was reputedly "one metamorphin' dude-icus."

:His new spring-loaded missile launcher was taken from [http://www.yojoe.com/action/91/snowserpent2.shtml Snow Serpent] from the ''[[G.I. Joe (team)|G.I. Joe]]'' toyline, and was the same one used by Gen2 [[Sideswipe (G1)|Sideswipe]] and [[Jazz (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Jazz]]. His backpack cannon was [[retool]]ed with a peg-hole to mount this new launcher. This is the only peg-hole on Onslaught to accommodate the gun's smaller peg, rather than its 5mm peg. (In theory the other smaller Combaticons can also hold the rifle, and their weapons can store on Onslaught's backpack now. Not that Onslaught's about to lend his gun to Swindle or Brawl.)

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1994/Decepticon/Onslaught/onslaught.htm More information on G2 Onslaught at TFU.info]''
{{-}}
{{anchor|G2BoxSet}}
[[File:G2toy-OnslaughtAmazon.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|"It's not easy bein' cheesy."]]
*'''Bruticus''' (Box set, [[2012]])
**''Accessories'': Dual cannon

:Part of a giftset [[exclusive]] to [[Amazon (website)|Amazon]] and [[BigBadToyStore]], this version of Onslaught is a redeco of ''[[Transformers: Generations|Generations]] [[Transformers: Fall of Cybertron|Fall of Cybertron]]'' [[Onslaught (WFC)|Onslaught]] in ''Generation 2'' colors. As usual, he forms the torso of Bruticus. Though [[:File:GenerationsG2Onslaught.JPG|stock photography depicted Onslaught]] with a black head and black deco on his gun, the final toy rendered both of these in unpainted purple plastic.

:This toy was [[retool]]ed into ''Fall of Cybertron'' [[Impactor (Prime)|Impactor]].
{{-}}

===''Universe'' (2008)===
[[File:Onslaughtuniverselegends.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|Because ''Classics'' Legends [[Perceptor (G1)|Perceptor]] was ''super''-popular.]]
*'''Onslaught''' (Legends, [[2008]])
**''Series'': Classic Series

:Part of the very first wave of ''[[Transformers: Universe (2008 franchise)|Universe]]'' [[Legends Class (2005)|Legends Class]] toys, Onslaught is a [[redeco]] of Legends Class ''[[Transformers: Cybertron (toyline)|Cybertron]]'' [[Red Alert (Armada)#LOC|Red Alert]], transforming into a SWAT-deco'd BTR-90 armored personnel carrier mounted with a top-mounted missile similar to a SCUD launcher. Because apparently SWAT teams now have missiles. Well, maybe in [[Chicago]].... Onslaught uses the Movie-style Decepticon symbol.

:This mold was also used to make ''[[Transformers: Classics|Classics]]'' [[Perceptor (G1)#Classics|Perceptor]].

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2008/Decepticon/LegendsOnslaught/onslaught.htm More information on Universe Legends Onslaught at TFU.info]''
{{-}}
{{anchor|Uni08Ultra}}
[[File:UniverseOnslaughtToys-HasbroTakara.JPG|upright=2.2|thumb|They found your phone number and want to ask you a few questions.]]
*'''Onslaught''' (Ultra, 2008)
**''Accessories'': Shield

:The large ''Universe'' version of Onslaught transforms into a six-wheeled SWAT assault truck with positionable mine-scoops and a rotating double-barreled turret on top. When the button on his rotating turret is pressed, electronic lights in his head and turret flash and one hears either machine gun fire or a siren sound, either of which are continuous if held down. Rolling the vehicle's middle left tire activates a third sound effect of him causing extensive property damage on something unfortunate enough to get caught under his wheels. A looped driving sound will then be continuously played until the tire stops rolling, when a final sound of the vehicle driving away/to a halt is played. He comes with a riot shield, which can either connect to a flip up tab on Onslaught's left arm in robot mode, or store on top of his turret in either mode. The small flap at the top of the shield is used to access the turret's button, either by pressing on the flap itself, or by flipping it open and pressing the button directly. A button on Onslaught's right arm spring-deploys an arm-mounted weapon.

:The robot mode [[Kibble#.22Faux-parts.22|cheats]] somewhat, having a second tow-winch on his belt-buckle immediately below his vehicle hood, while the actual vehicle mode winch splits in two to form his shoulders ([[#Notes|see below]] for more on this). The [[stock photography]] also shows him as [[:File:Onslaughtuniversetoy.jpg|having black cannons and hands, and being slightly mis-transformed]].

:The Japanese [[TakaraTomy]] version of Onslaught was released in American ''Universe'' packaging as a USA Edition toy. He is redecoed to more closely resemble the colours of the original Onslaught toy and his appearance in the ''Generation 1'' cartoon. His sparkly metallic slate-blue is replaced with swirly metallic teal, the blue paint on his arms and crotch is replaced by a dark greenish-blue, and the silver and dark silver on the sides of his face are replaced by teal. He also has slightly more paint on his face, with his mouth-plate being painted silver.

:The first waves of Onslaughts gave only very brief clips of sound when the button gimmick was activated. (The siren ended up sounding like a set car alarm.) This was changed in the Japanese release and as a [[Variant|running change]] in the U.S. version, so that the gun and siren noises are now restored to their intended full lengths. "MONZO 12782" is [[tampograph]]ed onto the front of the vehicle mode on both versions, a reference by Hasbro to the ever-helpful [[Fandom|fan]] [[User:Monzo|Monzo]] and his birthdate, [[December 7]], [[1982]], or 12-7-82.

:This mold was redecoed as ''[[Transformers: Universe (2008 toyline)|Universe]]'' [[Hardhead (G1)#Universe (2008)|Hardhead]] and retooled as ''[[Transformers Timelines (toyline)|Timelines]]'' [[Clench (G1)#Timelines|Clench]]. The Clench tooling also served as the basis of the non-toy ''[[Beast Wars: Uprising]]'' incarnation of [[Torca (BW)|Torca]].

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2008/Decepticon/TFUOnslaught/onslaught.htm More information on Universe Ultra-Class Onslaught at TFU.info]''
{{-}}
{{anchor|BrutMaxSet}}
[[File:Universe-ROTF-toy Onslaught.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|[[Grindcore (G1)|Grindcore]] stole his design, so he stole Grindcore's colors.]]
*'''Bruticus Maximus''' (Box set, 2008)
**''Series'': G1 Series

:The third ''Universe'' Onslaught toy is a redeco of ''[[Transformers: Energon (toyline)|Energon]]'' [[Barricade (Energon)#Energon|Barricade]], transforming into an eight-wheeled armored personnel carrier with a rear-mounted (non-firing) missile rack that turns and elevates. Amusingly, Barricade has a more Onslaught-accurate colour scheme than ''Universe'' Onslaught. The alphanumeric code "C5" tampographed on the front of his vehicle mode is a reference to the original Onslaught toy's American release's team ID number. For a little extra G1 flair, Onslaught's (as well as any other variations of the sculpt) missile rack in vehicle-mode can be clicked back to be dragged behind, elongating the entire vehicle, similar to the original toy.

:Onslaught also has a paint error on the right robot knee, in that there is no paint around the hole immediately below the knee, where there ''is'' paint on the left one. This error is also evident in the box photos for the individual robot mode, but not the combined mode, curiously. When combined with the other Combaticons, Onslaught forms the torso.

: He was only available as part of the ''Universe'' Bruticus Maximus [[giftset]], which was initially intended to be released as a [[Target]] exclusive in the United States, but ultimately ended up being only available in some non-American markets such as Australia and Singapore. Instead, American markets eventually received a [[rebranding|rebranded]] version of this giftset (with no changes to the toys themselves) in ''[[Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (toyline)|Revenge of the Fallen]]'' packaging (thereby creating a new [[live-action film series]] [[Onslaught (ROTF)|Onslaught]] character), exclusively available at Target stores in the United States and at Zellers stores in Canada. ''Revenge of the Fallen'' Onslaught retains the aforementioned paint error.

:This sculpt was redecoed into the ''[[Transformers United|United]]'' versions of Onslaught (see [[#United|below]]) and was retooled to make ''[[Transformers Timelines (toyline)|Timelines]]'' [[Heatwave (Timelines)#Timelines|Heatwave]].

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2009/Decepticon/TargetOnslaught/onslaught.htm More information on Universe multipack Onslaught at TFU.info]''
{{-}}

===''Encore''===
*'''Bruticus''' (multi-pack, Japan [[2009]])
**''ID number:'' '''16'''

:A reissue of the original G1 Onslaught toy at first sight, this toy is actually a redeco of the ''Robots in Disguise'' Mega-Octane retool of the sculpt, complete with shortened rifle, a plastic chest, all other subsequent mold changes. Additionally, the Japan-only base mode launcher mechanism was reinstated for this release. Unfortunately, the sculpt also has quite a bit of visible mold wear-and-tear thanks to the inordinate number of times the Onslaught sculpt has been reused and retooled over the years.

:This version of Onslaught was only available as part of a Bruticus gift set released under [[TakaraTomy]]'s ''[[Transformers Encore|Encore]]'' line of reissues.
{{-}}

===''United EX''===
*'''Combatmaster Prime Mode''' ([[2012]]-[[September 22|09-22]])
**''ID number'': '''EX-01'''
**''Accessories'': APC Drone, Armored Car Drone, Missile Carrier Drone, Tank Drone

:Combatmaster is a [[redeco]] of the ''[[Power Core Combiners]]'' [[Bombshock (PCC)#Toys|Bombshock]] toy, into a twin-barreled artillery cannon truck of indeterminate model. He also has a "Prime Mode" where he becomes the torso of a super robot, capable of using any auto-transforming Power Core Combiner drone-machine molds for limbs.

:He comes with four color-coordinated military vehicle drone-limbs, redecos of the [[Combaticon (PCC)|Combaticon]]s. Each one has a square socket for a Power Core Combiner connection; when attached via the blue plugs on a Commander figure, the vehicles automatically transform into a super-robot limb, and snaps back to vehicle mode when disconnected. Despite the universal connector, each drone can only form one limb type (but can be swapped from left to right):

:*1: '''Morser Drone''' [Missile Carrier Drone] — Arm (Combatmaster's right)
:*2: '''Panzer Drone''' [Tank Drone] — Arm (Combatmaster's left)
:*3: '''Kannonier Drone''' [APC Drone] — Leg (Combatmaster's right)
:*4: '''Spaher Drone''' [Armored Car Drone] — Leg (Combatmaster's left)

:Combatmaster's mold was also used to make [[Steelshot]]. The drone-limb molds were also used to make components for two other Power Core Combiner teams: the Missile Carrier Drone and Armored Car Drone molds were used for the [[Destron (PCC)|Destrons]], while the APC Drone and Tank Drone molds were used for the [[Protectobot (PCC)|Protectobots]].
{{-}}

===''Generations''===
[[File:Generationstoy-RetailOnslaught.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67]]
*'''Onslaught''' (Deluxe, [[2012]])
**''Series/number'': '''01/#004'''
**'''PART 1 OF 5!'''
**''Japanese release date:'' '''[[2013]]-[[January 26|01-26]]'''
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''TG07'''
**''Accessories:'' Cannons
{{note|The Hasbro release of ''Fall of Cybertron'' [[Onslaught (WFC)|Onslaught]] was [[repurposing|repurposed]] as Generation 1 Onslaught in IDW's ''[[The Transformers: Robots in Disguise|Robots in Disguise]]'' comic series and the pack-in comic "[[Starscream's New Power]]" while the TakaraTomy release of ''Fall of Cybertron'' Onslaught was repurposed as ''[[Transformers Cloud|Cloud]]'' Onslaught.}}

:A [[redeco]] of Onslaught from the [[Bruticus (WFC)|Decepticon Bruticus]] gift set was available individually alongside his fellow Combaticons as part of the second [[wave]] of the ''[[Transformers: Fall of Cybertron|Fall of Cybertron]]''-themed 2012-onwards Deluxe Class ''[[Transformers: Generations|Generations]]'' assortment. Overall, these versions of the Combaticons replace the [[show-accuracy|game-accurate]], ''the [[The Transformers (cartoon)|original ''The Transformers'' cartoon]]''-inspired decos with more "flashy" colors apparently homaging the color scheme of [[Bruticus Maximus (Energon)|Bruticus Maximus]]. Onslaught, however, is an exception to this: Although his colors are brighter and more vivid, the colors themselves are more game-accurate, replacing the dull shade of ocher with dark blue as the main color.

:Aside from the colors, mass retail Onslaught is identical to the version from the Decepticon Bruticus gift set.

:The TakaraTomy Japanese release features a shade of dark blue similar to Hasbro's. Naturally, it features more paint applications, such as blue on the wheels and painted "light" details.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2012/Decepticon/Onslaught/onslaught.htm More information on retail Onslaught at TFU.info]''
{{-}}
{{anchor|CombinerWars}}
[[File:Combiner Wars Onslaught toy.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67|How does he shoot aircraft when his cannons can't aim left or right? Does he keep an elaborate system of mirrors around him that the blasts cartoonishly bounce off of?]]
*'''Onslaught''' (Voyager, [[2016]])

:Part of the first wave of ''[[Combiner Wars (toyline)|Combiner Wars]]'' product for 2016, Onslaught is a heavy retool of [[Hot Spot (G1)#CombinerWars|Hot Spot]], replacing most the robot mode's parts from the waist up and turning the vehicle mode backwards, resulting in a transformation into an anti-aircraft truck rather than a fire truck. Being a ''Combiner Wars'' Voyager, he can combine with any four of that line's Deluxes, though he is meant to combine with his fellow [[Combaticon (G1)#CombinerWars|Combaticon]]s to form [[Bruticus (G1)#CombinerWars|Bruticus]]. His guns can combine end-to-end to form a larger gun for Bruticus. While it may seem as if his turret cannot rotate, folding the combiner chestplate parts at the side of the truck mode up will allow it to do so.

:When Hasbro originally announced the figure at [[BotCon 2015]], he was advertised as having a tan Bruticus chestplate for a ''Generation 1'' Onslaught-accurate color scheme as the first release and a silver chestplate for a ''Generation 1'' Bruticus-accurate color scheme as a [[variant#Running changes|running change]]. Instead, only the version with a silver chest plate ever made it to retail, and it appears that the version with a tan chestplate has been canceled altogether. He and the last three waves of ''Combiner Wars'' Deluxe and Voyager figures later started showing up at TJ Maxx at reduced prices.

:Onslaught was redecoed into ''Unite Warriors'' [[Mega-Octane#Unite Warriors|Dolrailer]] and retooled as [[Transformers Figure Subscription Service|TFSS]] [[Bludgeon (G1)#Combiner Wars|Bludgeon]]. The original version of the mold was retooled as [[Pyra Magna]], which in turn was repainted into [[Megaempress]].

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2016/Decepticon/CWOnslaught/onslaught.htm More information on ''Combiner Wars'' Onslaught at TFU.info]''
{{CWHotSpotMold}}

{{-}}{{anchor|G2BruticusSet}}
[[File:TF-Combiner-Wars-G2-Onslaught.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|Onslaught is a long time practitioner of the ancient art of disco!]]
*'''Bruticus''' (Generation 2, 2016)
**''Accessories'': Weapons, Combaticon extremities

:A ''Generation 2''-themed redeco of ''Combiner Wars'' Onslaught is packed along with the other Combaticons (including [[Shockwave (G1)/toys#G2BruticusSet|Shockwave]]), and sold together in a massive box.

:Unfortunately, it appears that this Onslaught suffers from the same [[misassembly]] as [[Pyra Magna#Generations|Pyra Magna]]: The knee struts are reversed on both legs, preventing his assemblies from locking in properly for robot mode. In an undocumented feature also shared with Pyra Magna, the backs of his feet can flip out to provide better support.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2016/Decepticon/CWG2Onslaught/onslaught.htm More information on ''Combiner Wars'' G2 Onslaught at TFU.info]''
{{CWHotSpotMold}}
{{-}}

===''United''===
*'''Bruticus''' (2012)

:Released exclusively by TakaraTomy in non-Japanese Asian markets, this redeco of the ''Energon'' Bruticus Maximus set has paint layouts similar to the previous ''Universe'' (2008)/''Revenge of the Fallen'' release, but with a much greater emphasis on G1-accurate colors. Onslaught's color scheme is perhaps the most different from the previous release, being very similar to his Generation 1 toy in robot mode, but is almost completely gray when transformed into Bruticus' torso, to reflect the large gray chest plate on the original Bruticus toy. Additionally, Bruticus' hands/feet/weapons, which were previously cast in translucent colored plastic are now opaque gray.
{{-}}

===Bot Shots===
[[Image:BotShots Onslaught.jpg|thumb|right|300px]]
*'''Combaticons''' (Multi-pack, 2013?)
**''Number'': '''T0??'''
***''Fist strength'': '''447'''
***''Blaster strength'':
***''Sword strength'':
:''[[Bot Shots (toyline)|Bot Shots]]'' Onslaught is a redeco of [[Warpath (G1)/toys#Bot Shots|Warpath]], transforming into a tank. As a Flip Shot, an impact to the front of his vehicle mode causes him to flip up when autotransforming. He was to be sold in a five-pack with [[Blast Off (G1)#Bot Shots|Blast Off]], [[Brawl (Movie)#5Pack|Decepticon Brawl]], [[Swindle (G1)#Bot Shots|Swindle]], and [[Vortex (G1)#Bot Shots|Vortex]], but this never saw release.

:This mold was originally used to make [[Brawl (Movie)#BotShotFlipShot|Flip Shot Brawl]].

{{canceledtoy}}

===Kre-O===
[[Image:KreO-Toy Onslaught.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Where'd my cannons go?!]]
*'''Decepticon Bruticus''' (Micro-Changer Combiner, 2013)
**''Set number'': '''A2225'''
**''Pieces'': '''79'''
**''Accessories'': Rifle

:Onslaught comes as part of the Bruticus [[Micro-Changer]] combiner set, and can be rebuilt from his robot mode into a truck. He can also contribute his bricks to form Bruticus. Unlike Swindle but like Brawl and Vortex, he is based on his [[#Generation 1|Generation 1 toy]].

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2013/Decepticon/Kre-OOnslaught/onslaught.htm More information on Onslaught at TFU.info]''

{{anchor|Combiner3pack}}
*'''Combiner Robot Mega Pack''' (3-pack, 2016)
**''Set number'': '''???'''
**''Pieces'': '''245'''

:3 years later, the 3 Micro-Changer combiners, Superion, Bruticus, and Menasor was reissued and released as a 3-pack. The toys were unchanged from their individual releases.

{{-}}

===''Unite Warriors''===
{{anchor|Unite Warriors 2}}
[[File:TF-Unite-Warriors-UW07-Onslaught.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|Swindle dumped a bucket of blue paint on me. I'd kill him if I didn't need to combine with him.]]
*'''Bruticus''' (Multi-pack, 2016-[[June 25|06-25]])
**''ID Number:'' '''UW-07'''
**''Accessories'': Individual Combaticon Weapons, Combaticon extremities

:''[[Transformers Unite Warriors|Unite Warriors]]'' Onslaught is a redeco of the ''Combiner Wars'' mold in color layout based on his cartoon model, with changes such as a blue head with silver faceplate, blue shoulders, and a Bruticus chestplate [[Bruticus (G1)#Notes|colored like Blast Off]]. He also features additional paint details in vehicle mode, including a painted grill and rims. Onslaught was sold only in a multi-pack with the other Combaticons.

:As a Voyager class ''Unite Warriors'' figure, he can combine with any Deluxe Class figures from either Hasbro's ''Combiner Wars'' subline or Takara's ''Unite Warriors'' line, though he was meant to combine with his Combatrons to from Bruticus.
{{CWHotSpotMold}}
{{--}}

==Notes==
[[File:Onslaughtmodelsheetshood.jpg|upright=0.9|thumb|Onslaught's early, unused character model (left) is more toy-accurate, if you ignore a heck of a lot.]]
*Onslaught's ability to combine with Metroplex is due to the fact that both were originally designed as part of the [[Diaclone]] line, where both were presumably part of the same faction. Neither were ever released under the Diaclone brand, as it had long since been overtaken by the Transformers.
*Like the rest of the Combaticons, Onslaught had an earlier, unused [[character model]] which superficially resembles the toy, other than the head design. There are other problems, such as wheel placement, but it's possible the artist of the unused character model was working off crappy source material.
[[File:EuroClassicOnslaughtPurple.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9]]
*When the unused character model was redrawn into the final character model, it kept the odd wheel placement and gave Onslaught his toy's head, but did some bizarre things with his transformation. Like with many of the other Combaticons' final character models, such as Swindle's, his torso is the bumper, hood, and roof of the vehicle mode flattened out. Years later, Onslaught's Ultra class ''Universe'' toy attempted to replicate this [[transformation scheme]].
*The packaging of the 1990 European [[Classics (Europe)|Classics]] release of the original Onslaught toy depicted Onslaught and the Combaticons in new color schemes—Onslaught himself was mainly purple—despite the fact that the actual toys looked identical to their original releases. While it may never be known for certain, it has been theorized that these colors originated from a packaging printing error rather than a legitimate attempt to [[redeco]] the Combaticons.
[[File:Universe Onslaught originalsculpt.jpg|upright=0.9|thumb|The dream is dead.]]
*In the [[commercial]] advertising the Generation 2 Aerialbots and Combaticons, Onslaught is referred to as "one metamorphin' dudicus". It is presently unknown what a dudicus ''is'', or what qualifications Onslaught has met to be the only known one.
*As revealed on Hasbro's ''Transformers'' website,<ref>[http://replay.web.archive.org/20090121131445/http://www.hasbro.com/transformers/universe/default.cfm?page=News/Item&newsid=A795A47F-D56F-E112-48649ACADFB6ADDC Hasbro's preview of ''Universe'' Wave 1's toys]</ref> ''Universe'' Ultra class Onslaught's original prototype featured a larger head that lacked a neck section, and the front section of his vehicle with a (non-functional) winch folded down to become his stomach and waist, as well as more cartoon-accurate sculpted detailing on his waist. However, on the final version of this mold, the winch remains on his shoulders while another winch is molded onto the battery cover as part of his waist.
*In the Wings of Honor continuity the Combaticons are swayed to the Decepticon side by Deathsaurus appealing to their darker natures, represented by one of the Seven Deadly Sins. Fittingly enough, as the leader of the team Onslaught falls to the most dangerous of the Sins: Pride.
*In The Transformers: Till All Are One IDW version, Onslaught has an animation/drawing error with his model where the wheels that are on his legs don't show up until he is in his combined mode, and even then, the wheels are in the wrong place.

===Foreign names===
*''Japanese:'' '''Onslaught''' (オンスロート ''Onsurōto'')
*''French:'' '''Abordage''' (Canada, "Boarding")
*''Hungarian:'' '''Cudar''' ("Rascally")
*''Italian:'' '''Destroyer'''
*''Mandarin:'' '''Thú-chí''' (Taiwan, 突擊, "Onslaught"), '''Anslo''' (Taiwan ''Universe'', 安史羅 ''Ān Shǐh Lúo''), '''Xíjí''' (China, 袭击, "Raid")
*''Spanish:'' '''Oslat''' (Spain, [[Classics (Europe)|Classics]] only)
*''Russian:'' '''Osilok''' (Осилок)
{{-}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Classics Decepticons]]
[[Category:Cloud Decepticons]]
[[Category:Combaticons]]
[[Category:Combiner Wars]]
[[Category:Elite Guard]]
[[Category:Generation 1 Decepticons]]
[[Category:Generation 2 Decepticons]]
[[Category:IDW Generation 1 Decepticons]]
[[Category:Kre-O Decepticons]]
[[Category:Kreons]]
[[Category:The Headmasters Decepticons]]
[[Category:Transformers with three modes]]
[[Category:Turncoats]]
[[Category:Unite Warriors Decepticons]]
[[Category:United Decepticons]]
[[Category:Universe (2008)]]
[[Category:Wings Universe Autobots]]
[[Category:Wings Universe Decepticons]]
[[Category:Ladybird Books Decepticons]]

Lori JimÃ©nez

2017-04-26T00:37:35Z

7Crimsonified7: /* Cybertron cartoon */

:''Lori Jiménez is a [[human]] from the [[Transformers: Cybertron (franchise)|''Cybertron'']] portion of the [[Unicron Trilogy]] [[Continuity family]].''

[[File:Lori.jpg|upright=1.67|thumb|A [[T-AI|cranky]] [[Alexis Thi Dang|female]] annoyed by her [[Side Burn (RID)|immature]] [[Rad White|male]] [[Carlos Lopez|companions]]. I discern a trend.]]
'''Lori Jiménez''' is an adolescent female [[human]] who assists the [[Autobot]]s during the search for the [[Cyber Planet Key]]s. Raised in the city, her family recently moved to rural [[Colorado]], a place she hates. While she certainly outshines her friends [[Bud Hansen|Bud]] and [[Coby Hansen|Coby]] in the social arena, she is not perfect, and more often than not, she can be reduced to immature shouting matches with Coby. She has a very intense... rivalry with Coby.

During the battle to save [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] from the [[Unicron Singularity]], Lori befriended [[Override (Cybertron)|Override]] (Override being "Big Sister" and Lori "Little Sister") and [[Scourge (Cybertron)|Scourge]], leaders of [[Velocitron]] and the [[Animatron|Jungle Planet]]. She also quickly developed a deep and abiding hatred of the female [[Decepticon]] "floozy" [[Thunderblast (Decepticon)|Thunderblast]].

Lori is a particular influence on the powerful Scourge; a constant and disquieting reminder to the dictator of his onetime desire to protect the weak that lay at the root of his quest for power... and that strength is more than merely physical.

Her parents are [[Ernesto Jiménez|Ernesto]] and [[Gloria Jiménez]].

==Fiction==
===Cartoon continuity===
====''Cybertron'' cartoon====
{{voiceactor|[[Sarah Edmondson]] (English), [[Chiara Zanni]] (English, "[[Retreat]]", "[[Revelation (episode)|Revelation]]", and "[[Inferno (episode)|Inferno]]"), [[Rika Morinaga]] (Japanese)|[[Melanie Henríquez]] (Spanish Latin America), [[Anna Rosendahl]] (Finnish)}}

[[File:Cyb ep1 lori vs coby.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.1|Moments after stealing the sandwich right out of his mouth.]]

Lori was not happy when her [[Ernesto Jiménez|father]] moved her entire family from the big city to the sleepy rural town of [[Rockville]], [[Colorado]]. Having grown up in the city, Lori was used to its hustle and bustle and found she couldn't stand boring country life, so she took out her frustrations on local boy [[Coby Hansen]], developing quite an antagonistic relationship with him.

One ordinary, boring day, Lori was trying to complain to a friend of hers back in the city over the phone, when the roar of the Hansens' dirtbikes denied her even that little bitter luxury. She promptly stomped over to the picnicking grounds where most of the town was enjoying themselves to chastise Coby, but Coby's brother [[Bud Hansen|Bud]] temporarily defused the argument by offering Lori a cup of orange [[soft drink|soda]]. Suitably calmed, Lori went walking with the two boys, but it wasn't long before she and Coby started arguing again about the most petty of things: ice-cream flavors. They were stunned into silence, however, when the heavens lit up, and a large object came falling to the ground nearby. Investigating, the shocked kids discovered the body of the [[Autobot]] [[Landmine (Energon)|Landmine]].

[[File:Cyb ep1 cleaning landmine.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Your creepy smile is making this more awkward than it needs to be, Landmine.]]

While Coby and Bud made arrangements to haul the damaged robot from his impact crater, Lori quickly ran home to change clothes so that she could help clean and repair him. As the kids worked, Landmine explained that he and his fellow Autobots had come to [[Earth]] to escape the threat of a [[Unicron Singularity|colossal black hole]] that was threatening their home planet of [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]. Once Landmine had been repaired, Lori helped him avoid a search party, who had mistaken the Autobots' footprints for those of [[bigfoot]]. But the Autobots' enemies, the [[Decepticon]]s had followed them to Earth, and one of their number, [[Thundercracker (Armada)|Thundercracker]], soon appeared to attack Landmine and the kids. Fortunately, his attack not only drove away the adults tracking them down, but also drew the attention of the other Autobots, who saw Thundercracker off and introduced themselves to the kids. The [[Mini-Con]] [[Jolt (Cybertron)|Jolt]] squeaked in shock when he saw the symbol on the shirt Lori had borrowed from her brother; what Lori had thought was merely an image from an album cover, [[Vector Prime]] explained, was in fact the symbol of the [[Omega Lock]], the control device for the legendary [[Cyber Planet Key]]s, whose power was needed to stop the black hole. {{storylink|Fallen (episode)|Fallen}} {{storylink|Inferno (episode)|Inferno}}

[[File:Cyb ep3 you go less.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.1|"The target area is only two meters wide. It's a small thermal exhaust port, right below the main port. The port is ray-shielded, so you'll have to use proton torpedoes."]]

The Autobots' first order of business on Earth was setting up a secret headquarters, and Lori presented them with a plot of land that he father had originally intended for a housing development, until the market went bad. During the blasting that preceding construction, Vector Prime discovered that Lori and the boys were able to hear the [[Omega Frequency]], the trans-sonic signal given off by the Omega Lock that was inaudible to the Autobots, which would make them invaluable in the search. Lori subsequently designed their base when [[Scattorshot (Cybertron)|Scattorshot]]'s layout proved far too cold for her tastes, and helped apply its [[stealth beam coating]] just in time to protect it against detection by Decepticon leader [[Megatron (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Megatron]]. {{storylink|Haven}} The next order of business was helping the civilian Autobot refugees integrate themselves into human society; in addition to teaching the Autobots traffic laws, Lori was responsible for choosing [[Signal Lancer]]'s unconventional lamp-post alternate mode, and got a ribbing from Coby for the decision. {{storylink|Hidden}} With these essentials taken care of, the Autobots returned to the mystery of Lori's shirt, and began searching the planet for more example of the strange symbol, which was known as the "[[Atlantis Pattern]]". Lori and the boys accompanied the Autobots to [[Mexico]] in pursuit of a lead, and were protected from a Decepticon attack by Landmine, who had come to consider Earth just as important as Cybertron, thanks to his friendship with the kids. {{storylink|Landmine (episode)|Landmine}}

[[File:Cyb ep8 sad story.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|"Dammit, what does Bella '''see''' in Edward?"]]

With the location of the first Cyber Planet Key determined to be the planet [[Velocitron]], Lori and the boys were left with little to do on Earth. Their lives were far from monotonous, however. During one of Lori and Coby's visit to the Autobot base, they found an angry Jetfire trying to figure out where [[Scattorshot (Cybertron)|Scattorshot]] had gone off to. The kids were themselves concerned, as Bud was supposed to meet them at the base after school. Coby and Lori briefly interrogated the Mini-Cons, eventually discovering that Bud and Scattorshot had gotten themselves stranded in Earth's orbit. Lori stayed behind at the headquarters while Coby was forced to rescue his brother with Jolt's assistance. {{storylink|Space (episode)|Space}} Later, the children were called to a meeting, where Optimus discussed his next plan: putting an end to the Decepticons' continued attempts at tracking down their base. From the safety of the real base, Lori and the others watched as Thundercracker was lured to a decoy base, which he was allowed to destroy. {{storylink|Rush (episode)|Rush}}

After going to a horror movie, the three kids suggested that Jolt would be able to join them next time by passing himself off as a cosplaying fanboy. That night, while staring at the stars with her father, Lori tried to tactfully broach the subject of the Autobots, but was prevented by the sudden appearance of the Atlantis Pattern in the sky. She informed the Autobots of the strange phenomenon, but when they investigated, it turned out to be just a Decepticon trick. {{storylink|Speed}} Bored over their lack of recent activity, the kids decided to take the Mini-Cons to their homes for a "play date" of sorts. Lori took [[Six-Speed (Cybertron)|Six-Speed]] to her house, where the Mini-Con got emotional reading "The Little Match Girl". That night, the kids and Mini-Cons helped the Autobots save the town when an earthquake threatened to cause the nearby [[Mount McDermott]] to collapse. {{storylink|Collapse}}

[[File:Cyb ep9 searching for atlantis.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.1|"Have you heard the Good News?"]]

Returning to the search for the Omega Lock once again, Lori went with Coby, Bud, the Mini-Cons and Vector Prime to follow a lead on a tropical island, where Lori contentedly sunned herself while the boys frolicked in the surf. When the search turned up nothing, they moved on to the next location in the [[Sahara|Sahara Desert]], where a brief battle with the Decepticons erupted over what turned out to be nothing more than a duplicate of the Lock. {{storylink|Time (episode)|Time}} A solid lead was finally uncovered when the civilian Autobots were brought in to help search, {{storylink|Search}} and Lori went with the Autobots to the [[Bermuda Triangle]] to investigate the Atlantis Pattern found there. At the bottom of the ocean, they discovered the ancient Cybertronian starship ''[[Atlantis]]'', and in order to keep it out of the Decepticons' hands, Vector Prime activated the craft and teleported it away with only himself, the kids and Mini-Cons aboard. {{storylink|Deep}} With the ''Atlantis'' safely hidden in the shadow of the moon, Lori joined the others in searching through its labyrinthine corridors, and eventually discovered the Omega Lock in the bowels of the ship. Though Megatron appeared to claim the artifact, triggering the ship's self-destruct mechanism in the process, Optimus caught up to the Decepticon and fought him for the Omega Lock. Meanwhile, the children escaped the ''Atlantis''. Optimus emerged victorious, and then left for the Speed Planet with Vector Prime and Landmine while Lori, Coby, and Bud were returned to Earth by the other Autobots. {{storylink|Ship}}

Getting in contact with the team on the Speed Planet, the kids learned that Hot Shot was in critical condition after being attacked by [[Ransack (Cybertron)|Ransack]] and [[Crumplezone (Cybertron)|Crumplezone]], a couple of thugs working for Megatron. They watched over the base's monitor as Red Alert fixed up their wounded comrade, and the rest of the team brought him out of his emotional funk, which Hot Shot had fallen into believing he had failed in his mission. {{storylink|Hero (episode)|Hero}}

[[File:Cyb ep14 kids meet suzuki.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|"I'm sorry, children, but I've sold you to this scientist for experimentation."]]

With most of the team on Velocitron, Lori and Bud were assigned a special mission by Vector Prime: searching out and examining strange archaeological artifacts that appeared to be of Cybertronian origin. Lori was thrilled when their search for one of these objects took them back to the city, but there was no time to take in the sights, as their quest took them to a university. Evading a security guard, the pair encountered ditzy scientist [[Lucy Suzuki]], and managed to fool her into thinking they were doing research for a school paper. The object the kids were searching for, it turned out, was in Suzuki's own collection of strange artifacts, which the doctor herself believed to be of alien origin. After examining it and learning all they could, Lori and Bud quickly departed and head off in pursuit of the next object on Vector Prime's list. {{storylink|Race}}

[[File:Cyb ep19 hotspring.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.1|Unfortunately, the girls were shocked to find that Coby was under the impression that it was a nude, co-ed hot spring.]]

Lori spent much of the time that followed watched transmissions from Velocitron, as Hot Shot raced for possession of the world's Cyber Planet Key. {{storylink|Detour (episode)|Detour}} On top of keeping a close eye on Hot Shot practicing, Lori also witnessed the Autobots make some new allies on the Jungle Planet. {{storylink|Savage}} When Hot Shot successfully won the key, Lori watched as it was added to the Omega Lock, causing the release of an energy wave that pointed the way to something hidden in the Arctic Circle. {{storylink|Champion}} Lori joined the Autobots in traveling to the Arctic to search, but along the way, realized they would be needing some heavy winter clothes. Grudgingly permitting the boys to use her emergency credit card to buy some parkas, Lori had them stop at a store, only to find that it wouldn't take credit. As luck and grand cosmic coincidence would have it, Lucy Suzuki was also in the store, picking up supplies for a government scientific survey she was helping to conduct. She bought the kids the parkas they required, and was convinced to let them accompany her on her survey as "assistants". Lori came to trust Lucy, and ignoring Coby's warnings, ultimately told her all about the Autobots. {{storylink|Ice}}

[[File:Cyb ep21 scourge meets lori.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|"Oh my god, it's adorable! Can I keep it?"]]

While this aspect of the trip went over well, the Autobots failed to uncover the object of their search, and returned to base, where Lori petitioned [[Jetfire (Armada)|Jetfire]] to allow her to go to [[Animatron|Jungle Planet]], home of the second Cyber Planet Key. [[Override (Cybertron)|Override]] agreed to take Lori with her, beginning a strong friendship between the pair. {{storylink|Honor}} With Coby's dirtbike helmet for a good luck charm, Lori proved her bravery on Jungle Planet by stepping forward to challenge the "might makes right" credo of the planet's ruler [[Scourge (Cybertron)|Scourge]]. Subsequently defeated in battle by [[Optimus Prime (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]], Scourge relinquished ownership of the Cyber Planet Key, and departed to ruminate on Lori's words. {{storylink|Primal}} When the Decepticons attacked soon after, attempting to steal the key, Lori tried to convince Scourge to help the Autobots, but he only heeded her pleas when the battle endangered his temple. {{storylink|Trust (Cybertron)|Trust}}

[[File:Cyb ep25 lori cries.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.1|T_T]]

The addition of the second Cyber Planet Key to the Omega Lock once again pointed the way to something in the Arctic, which was at last discovered to be a subterranean chamber holding an army of [[Ancient Decepticon]]s. {{storylink|Trap}} Freed by the rebel Decepticon [[Starscream (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Starscream]], these ancient warriors swarmed the globe in search of the third Cyber Planet Key, and Lori, Coby, Bud and the Mini-Cons attempted to help the Autobots in battle as best they could. However, no sooner had they departed the Autobots' base than they were accosted by [[Mike Franklin|Colonel Franklin]] and taken into custody along with their parents. {{storylink|Invasion (episode)|Invasion}} Franklin attempted to pry information on the Transformers from the kids, but they played dumb, while Lucy Suzuki freed the Mini-Cons, then joined them in rescuing the kids and escaping. They returned to the Autobots' base, where Optimus Prime informed them that the Autobots were going to leave Earth with the third key in order to draw the Decepticons away. Lori sadly accepted this decision, but before the Autobots could leave, Starscream attacked. Unable to defeat Prime in battle, Starscream opened fire on Lori and the other humans, forcing Prime to throw himself in the path of the blast, and allowing Starscream to escape with the Omega Lock and all the Cyber Planet Keys. {{storylink|Retreat}}

[[File:Cyb ep27 lori tells off redalert.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Exquisite dead guy 
Outside my highrise apartment 
Exquisite dead guy 
Hanging from a skyhook
]]

Both the Autobots and Megatron's Decepticons proceeded to go after Starscream to regain the key, but during a battle at [[Niagara Falls]], Hot Shot, Scattorshot and [[Red Alert (Armada)|Red Alert]] were grievously wounded. {{storylink|Revelation (episode)|Revelation}} Colonel Franklin (who turned out to be on the Autobots' side) had the injured Autobots brought to a military base for repairs, and Lori, Coby and Bud all pitched in. Red Alert was resigned to his inevitable demise, but Lori refused to take any of his guff, and accusing him to giving up in the face of a challenge. Galvanized by Lori's words, the three Autobots tapped into the power of the Omega Lock, and were reformatted into powerful new bodies as the [[Cybertron Defense Team]]. {{storylink|Critical}} Lori, Coby and Bud then returned to the Autobots' base, and both helped co-ordinate their attack on Starscream's island base, {{storylink|Assault}} and charted a space bridge course back to Cybertron for the Cybertron Defense Team. {{storylink|Starscream (episode)|Starscream}} After Optimus Prime finally defeated Starscream {{storylink|United}} and apparently destroyed Megatron, Lori, Coby and Bud were all brought to Cybertron, where the power of the Lock and Keys was used to transform the planet into the body of Transformers' god, [[Primus]] himself. {{storylink|Cybertron (episode)|Cybertron}}

[[File:Cyb ep34 communicator.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.1]]

When Megatron reappeared in a mysterious ghostly form, the side-switching [[Sideways (Armada)|Sideways]] exploited the distraction to capture the Mini-Cons, intending to pry the location of [[Gigantion]], home of the final Cyber Planet Key, from Jolt's memory. {{storylink|Balance}} Lori and the boys leapt through Sideways's warp field as he teleported away, finding themselves back in the ruined hulk of the ''Atlantis'', which Starscream and Sideways were using as a hideout. {{storylink|Darkness (episode)|Darkness}} Braving the dangers of the ship's maintenance shafts, the kids were able to get one over on Sideways and free their Mini-Cons friends {{storylink|Memory}} and then made contact with the other Autobots to arrange a rescue. Unfortunately, while Lori, Coby and Six-Speed made it out, Bud's escape pod did not make it out of range before the ''Atlantis'' warped off into the depths of space. {{storylink|Escape (episode)|Escape}}

[[File:Cyb ep36 parents dont believe.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Do we need to have the birds and bees talk?]]

With Bud in danger, Lori and Coby realized that it was finally time to tell their parents about the Transformers. Unsurprisingly, however, the parents didn't believe a word of their story, until the Autobots themselves descended out of the sky and proved the truth of the children's words. With Prime's promise to protect the children, the parents allowed Lori and Coby to go into space with the Autobots, and [[Gloria Jiménez|Lori's mother]] did her part by providing a bag of food and a change of clothes. {{storylink|Family}} After helping to make preparations, {{storylink|Titans}} Lori joined the Autobots in traveling through the rift in time and space that led to the parallel universe where Gigantion rested. {{storylink|Warp}} Once on the so-called "Giant Planet," Lori and Coby instigated the Autobots' first meeting with the towering locals, albeit by running into the middle of a construction site and having to be saved from a falling i-beam by the planet leader, [[Metroplex (Cybertron)|Metroplex]]. {{storylink|Giant}} Lori and Coby almost met their end at the hands of Megatron, who had been powered up by the Gigantion Cyber Planet Key into Galvatron, but were saved at the last minute by Optimus Prime. {{storylink|Fury (Cybertron)|Fury}}

[[File:LoriPissed.jpg|left|thumb|Coby sure is a lucky man.]]

After rescuing Bud from the ''Atlantis'', {{storylink|City}} the Autobots split into four teams to explore below the planet's surface for the Gigantion key; Lori was partnered with Override and [[Wing Saber (Energon)|Wing Saber]]. In the middle of their search, the trio were ambushed by Scourge and [[Thunderblast (Decepticon)|Thunderblast]], and Lori immediately started railing against Scourge for continuing to hang around with the Decepticons after everything she had tried to teach him. When Thunderblast then butted into the argument, Lori went over the edge, and challenged the Decepticon to fight. With Wing Saber's help, Lori lured Thunderblast into a trap at a nearby harbor, and crushed her under a number of cranes. Override and Scourge had begun battling in Lori's absence, but when the girl returned, she was inadvertently nearly crushed by debris knocked loose by Scourge. Ashamed, Scourge made a "tactical withdrawal", and Lori kicked the wall in anger, only to wind up accidentally hitting a hidden button that activated a holographic replay of Gigantion's history, including its war with [[Planet X (Cybertron)|Planet X]]. {{storylink|Ambush (episode)|Ambush}}

[[File:Cyb ep44 secret passage.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Abbot and Costello Meet the Autobots]]

After meeting up with Optimus Prime's team and relaying what she had learned, {{storylink|Challenge}} Lori accidentally found ''another'' hidden button when she leant on a wall, opening up a secret passage that sent Bud and the Mini-Cons tumbling into a hidden Mini-Con city. While enjoying himself in this little city, Bud ran into Scourge, and managed to do what Lori could not by finally convincing him that fighting was not always the way. Lori then watched as the enlightened Scourge allowed himself to be defeated in battle by the Autobots, and hoped that someday, he could join their ranks himself. {{storylink|Scourge (episode)|Scourge}}

Although the Autobots were able to obtain the Gigantion key, {{storylink|Optimus (episode)|Optimus}} it was subsequently stolen by Galvatron, and the Autobots were left trapped on Gigantion. {{storylink|Showdown (Cybertron)|Showdown}} Vector Prime resolved to use his powers over time to reopen the space-time tunnel that would allow the Autobots to return to their home universe, but it was revealed that the exertion would kill him. Bud could not properly comprehend this, so Lori tearfully explained that they would not be able to see him again, but that he would always be watching over them. This explanation seemed enough for Bud, and everyone then watched with heavy hearts as Vector Prime sacrificed himself to give them the chance they needed. {{storylink|Guardian (episode)|Guardian}}

[[File:Cyb ep49 lori gives orders.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1]]

Back in their universe, the Autobots returned to Cybertron and assembled for the ultimate battle with Galvatron. {{storylink|Homecoming (episode)|Homecoming}} Lori, Coby, Bud and the Mini-Cons accompanied the five planet leaders into the heart of the black hole, and watched as the heroes took Galvatron down. Defeated, Galvatron hurled the Omega Lock and Keys at the core of the black hole, but Lori and the others were able to help the planet leaders track their trajectories, allowing them to reclaim them. With all five divine objects back in Autobot hands, Primus's power was finally restored, and he sealed the black hole, then transformed back into Cybertron. {{storylink|End}}

After briefly returning to Earth for a reunion with the parents, Lori, Bud and Coby were brought to the new Cybertron, which now incorporated aspects of all the four colony worlds. Lori could tell that Optimus Prime was still worried by Galvatron's continued threat, and before long, his concerns proved genuine: just as the Autobots were moving Jungle Planet back to its rightful place in space, Galvatron attacked. He and Optimus battled on Cybertron's moon, while Lori and the boys helped all the other Transformers repair the damage Galvatron had done to the planetary engines being used to move Jungle Planet, safely returning Jungle Planet home. They then headed to the moon, and watched as Optimus finally destroyed Galvatron once and for all. {{storylink|Unfinished}}

[[File:Cyb ep51 aaawwww.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.1|"Hmmm.. I seem to have forgotten to wipe off the superglue."]]

In the wake of Galvatron's destruction, a peace conference between the five worlds was called, and it was decided that a new space bridge program would be initiated to colonize more planets in the depths of space. Many preparations for the voyage then had to be made, which included the appointing of a new leader for Jungle Planet, if Scourge was to go on the mission. Lori cheered for her friend as he took on all comers to decide who would take his place, but ultimately, no-one could beat him, so he stayed on as leader and designated Leobreaker to go in his place.

[[File:CobyLoriWedding.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|Everyone smile and say...OH MY GOD WHAT IS THAT BEHIND YOU?!]]

A little later, on Earth, Lori was with Coby when he resolved to build a spaceship and join the Autobots in the stars, and she hoped aloud that there would be room for two aboard. Realizing what she had said, Lori immediately tried to backpedal, but with this admission, a long-blooming relationship finally began between the two young people. The following day, Lori and all the Autobots' other human allies gathered to watch as their alien friends departed for the stars, and new adventures.

In the years that followed, Lori and Coby's relationship continued, and they eventually became engaged. Coby accomplished his dream of building a spaceship, and Lori her dream of joining him in space, and while in space together, they watched a television broadcast of Bud winning an Oscar. Eventually, the young lovers were married, in a ceremony attended by their families, their Mini-Con friends, and Optimus Prime himself. {{storylink|Beginning}}
{{-}}

====''Cybertron'' comic====
Early in the search for the Cyber Planet Keys, when Vector Prime was returned to Earth following his battle on Cybertron with [[Ramjet (Universe)|Ramjet]], [[Over-Run (Armada)|Over-Run]] showed an image of the venerable Autobot examining some ruins bearing the Atlantis Pattern with Lori, Bud, and Coby. {{storylink|Revelations Part 2}}

Several months later after their adventures ended, Lori, Bud and Coby traveled to Cybertron with Optimus Prime and his crew. There, they met up with several Autobots who had been dealing with other problems, such as the revival of [[Unicron]], and Lori shook hands with [[Anti-Blaze]]. {{storylink|Revelations Part 6}}

====''Transformers Legends'' comic====
Lori was one of the many women brought to the [[Legends Universe]] by [[Tigatron]] using the [[10.2 ultra-drill|ultra-drill]] in an attempt to get women who liked him better than [[Springer (G1)|Springer]]. It did not work out, as all of the women brought over eventually swooned over Springer. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 19|Bonus Edition Vol. 19}}

===''Galaxy Force'' manga===
[[File:GalaxyForceMangaStupidLori01.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|left|Japan: Always no less than 30 years behind in women's lib.]]

Driving cross-country on an unsupervised roadtrip with Coby and Bud, Lori showed signs of anger when Coby's car broke down and gently kicked the vehicle in the tire. Coby responded by yelling at her, as he felt she was "hurting" his car. Lori sighed and reminded Coby that "there's no such thing as Transformers" and that his car most certainly ''wasn't'' one. As the argument progressed, an ''actual'' Transformer ([[Landmine (Energon)|Landmine]]) just happened to fall out of the sky and crash into a smoking crater in the nearby forest.

As Coby made an effort to "heal" the injured robot, he cast Lori in the role of his "nurse". Unfortunately for Lori, she was a girl, so she didn't understand manly words like "wrench" (as a matter of fact, she was so unfamiliar with Coby's sophisticated technical jargon that it all sounded like incomprehensible gibberish to her ears). Bud helped her out, though.

Landmine was eventually repaired when [[Vector Prime]] showed up, but Lori and her friends soon came under fire when Megatron showed up, too. Luckily, Optimus Prime wasn't far behind and punched the Hell out of Megatron until he retreated. Along with her friends, Lori thanked Prime for his bravery. {{storylink|Touchdown! Optimus Prime}}

{{charstubfiction|{{storylink|The Devil's Dogfight! Coby's Courage}} {{storylink|Intense Race Planet! Velocitron}} {{storylink|Deep Sea Discovery! Vector Prime}} {{storylink|The Temple of Hell! Overhaul}} {{storylink|Galaxy Force Mission.7}} {{storylink|Galaxy Force Mission.9}}}}

==Notes==
[[File:CybLoriEvolution.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1]]
*According to TV Aichi's ''Galaxy Force'' webpage, Lori is 13 years old at the start of the cartoon series.
*Early ''Galaxy Force'' promotional materials depicted a Lori with short, blonde hair. Her outfit was similar to the final Lori, only without the vest. Lori's final model also appeared with a different, earlier color scheme in a Japanese magazine spread.
*Lori doesn't seem to have been designed or written to be Latina by the Japanese production staff of ''Galaxy Force'', but her ethnicity was established through the ''Cybertron'' dub of the series, which named her father "Ernesto" and had him refer to her as "mija", a Spanish term of endearment for a girl.
*Lori was never given a last name during any of her actual fiction appearances. It wasn't until many years after the ''Cybertron'' franchise's end that her family name was retroactively established as Jiménez via the [[Ask Vector Prime#Ask Sideways|Ask Vector Prime Facebook page]] (during a period when it had been hijacked by Sideways) by way of a question regarding her previously unnamed mother.

===Foreign names===
*''Japanese:'' '''Lori''' (ローリ ''Rōri'')
*''Korean:'' '''Lori''' (로리 ''Loli'')

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jimenez, Lori}}
[[Category:Cybertron humans]]
[[Category:Fiction-only characters]]
[[Category:Legends humans]]

Deceptor

2017-04-26T00:34:22Z

7Crimsonified7: /* Generation 1 */

{{faction|autobot}}
:''Deceptor is an [[Autobot]] from the [[Generation 1 continuity family|Generation 1]] and [[Unicron Trilogy]] [[Continuity family|continuity families]] (via the [[Kronoform]] toyline).''

[[File:Deceptor-boxart.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|"Psst, kid. I'm totally an Autobot. Go ahead and wear me. You'll forget I'm even there."]]
'''Deceptor''' is one of several [[Transformer]]s who turn into wristwatches.

It is unknown if he retains his small size when in his non-watch modes. He has been described as a "time machine",<ref>Packaging description ("An incredible jet robot time machine!")</ref> but his specific abilities are unknown.

==Fiction==
===Ask Vector Prime===
In [[Aurex 404.11 Kappa]], Deceptor was an Autobot quantum scientist before becoming a member of the [[Time Warrior (AVP)|Time Warriors]]. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Vector Prime, 12/7/2015}}

==Toys==
===Generation 1===
[[File:G1-toy DeceptorGold.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|Boy, ''time'' sure '''''flies'''''! Ha ha ha ha ha ha haooooo God please kill me.]]
*'''Deceptor''' (Kronoform, 1985)
**''Accessories'': Watchband

: Deceptor is a functional "5-Function" digital wristwatch (Month, day, hour, minutes, seconds. Hell of a range there, huh?) from Takara’s ''[[Kronoform]]'' line, revived as ''Transformers'' merchandise. He transforms from a robot to a jet with a robotic bird-head as his nosecone, and has a third watch mode for when he is attached to the plastic watch-band. He came in at least three different colors; gray, blue, and chromed gold.

[[File:Deceptor_pack.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Time's ticking!]]

==Notes==
* Yes, he's an Autobot. His packaging says so.
* Speaking of his packaging, it uses exactly the same cross-sell on the back as [[Autoceptor]]'s, showing the entire ''Kronoform'' line from 1984... ''except'' for Deceptor, amusingly enough.
* A tan Deceptor is shown as part of the "Watchbot" sub-group in the Japanese ''[[Transformers First Series Complete]]'' guidebook. However, by all accounts Deceptor was never offered as part of the Japanese ''Transformers'' line in any capacity.

==References==
<references />

[[Category:Armada Autobots]]
[[Category:Generation 1 Autobots]]
[[Category:Multi-family characters]]
[[Category:Transformers with three modes]]
[[Category:Watches]]

Bludgeon (G1)

2017-04-26T00:31:56Z

7Crimsonified7: /* Regeneration One */

{{factions|decepticon|decepticong2|unicron}}
{{disambig3|Bludgeon}}
{{featured}}
:''Bludgeon is a [[Decepticon]] [[Pretender]] from the [[Generation 1 continuity family]].''
[[File:MarvelUK-282.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|This is pretty much the most metal cover in TF history.]]
'''Bludgeon''' is a ferocious warrior, skilled in the ancient Cybertronian martial art of [[Metallikato]]. He and his blade can cut through the battlefield as if everyone else is operating at a minimal speed setting. Bludgeon's feats in battle seem nearly supernatural, which is probably the effect he's going for, if he doesn't believe his own hype. Utterly vicious and aloof, Bludgeon is also highly religious, adhering to an arcane code of honor. Though his beliefs fuel his single-minded bloodthirstiness with dogmatic precision, they also cause him to be rather superstitious.

Bludgeon's confidence, skill, and grand words have often catapulted him to the upper ranks of the Decepticons. Who wouldn't fall in line behind him? He's charismatic! The [[Mayhem Attack Squad]] is his usual host of cronies, but he's also been known to fill in as [[Decepticon leader]] if a power vacuum presents itself.

Bludgeon is (obviously) a [[Pretender]] who has adopted a shell which takes the appearance of a skeletal samurai. His signature weapon is an [[Energo weapon|energo-sword]], though he also carries a shield and a [[high-voltage electric cannon]]. In accordance with his martial arts motif, generators in his shell's legs can create disorienting clouds of smoke, and he can generate electric fireballs from the torso of either his body or his shell.<ref>Bludgeon's ''[[Transformers: More than Meets the Eye|More than Meets the Eye]]'' profile says the electric fireballs are fired from either of his torsos. His original toy bio said they're fired from between his shell's antennas.</ref> It is unknown whether Bludgeon is any less agile or capable in his blocky [[robot mode]], but it wouldn't be surprising.

Sometimes Bludgeon combines with some of the members of the Mayhem Attack Squad to form [[Thunder Mayhem]].

{{quote|Prattling fool! Your warrior heart is tainted by an idiot's tongue! Perhaps I shall remove '''both''' for you!|Bludgeon takes on [[Jazz (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Jazz]]|"[[The Primal Scream]]"}}

==Fiction==
===Marvel Comics continuity===
====Marvel ''The Transformers'' comics====
{{noteukonly}}
[[File:Bludgeonasavageplace.jpg|left|upright=1.4|thumb|The shoulder is a well-known [[Transformer]] instant-death spot.]]
''When Decepticons [[Catilla (G1)|Catilla]] and [[Carnivac (G1)|Carnivac]] defected to the [[Autobot]]s, a new Mayhem Attack Squad was formed which included Bludgeon, his Pretender cohorts [[Stranglehold]] and [[Octopunch (G1)|Octopunch]], [[Needlenose (G1)|Needlenose]], [[Spinister (G1)|Spinister]], and [[Snarler]]. After a [[solid light simulation]] of a mission in [[Slaughter City]], their prey was authorized—they would hunt down and kill Catilla, Carnivac, and their new [[Wrecker]] friends.'' {{storylink|The Hunting Party (Marvel)|The Hunting Party}} ''They found Carnivac outside [[Dallas]], [[Texas]], and Bludgeon, promising him a warrior's death, led the charge.'' {{storylink|Way of the Warrior}} ''However, Carnivac managed to draw first blood, injuring Bludgeon's shoulder. The confrontation was then interrupted by the National Guard, and Carnivac escaped Bludgeon and the other Mayhems while they were distracted by the new arrivals.'' {{storylink|Survival Run}} ''After dealing with the fleshlings, the Decepticons tracked Carnivac down to [[Los Gravos]], [[Mexico]]. [[Spinister (G1)|Spinister]] was about to deal the killing blow, when Catilla rescued him. However, Bludgeon threw his [[sword]] into Catilla, killing Carnivac's savior. As the rest of the Autobots arrived, Bludgeon ordered a withdrawal. Carnivac swore that Bludgeon and the other Mayhems would pay for killing his friend.'' {{storylink|A Savage Place!}}

[[File:Bludgeonstrangleholdoctopunchmodelsheet.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|The [[Nelson Yomtov|colorist]] made me look hunchbacked.]]
He later took on the leadership of [[Thunderwing (G1)|Thunderwing]]'s new [[Mayhem Attack Squad]], sent to slay the newly resurrected [[Jazz (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Jazz]], [[Bumblebee (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Bumblebee]], and [[Grimlock (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Grimlock]]. Alongside the [[Rescue Patrol (G1)|Rescue Patrol]], the [[Classic Pretender]]s were due to be teleported to [[Earth]], an operation Bludgeon attempted to interrupt by shoving his blade through the transportation machine. Instead, he and the Mayhems were transported with the Autobots to the center of Cybertron. {{storylink|Yesterday's Heroes!}} Here, the Mayhems found the Autobots being told the story of Cybertron's origins by the [[Keeper (Transformer)|Keeper]]. Despite being on holy ground, Bludgeon and his compatriots attacked, with Bludgeon gaining the upper hand against Jazz until Bumblebee managed to sneak up on him. Bludgeon was lured into a nearby canal, where Seawatch grappled him and hoisted him away with his boat mode. In his absence, the battle inadvertently awakened the slumbering [[Primus]]. Ultimately, the transportation was completed, and the Mayhems were sent to Earth along with the Autobots, {{storylink|The Primal Scream}} where they told [[Scorponok (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Scorponok]] of [[Unicron/Generation 1|Unicron]]'s coming and joined his Decepticons on Earth. When [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Optimus Prime]] surrendered his Autobots to Scorponok in order to facilitate an alliance against Unicron, Bludgeon helped the other Decepticons imprison the surrendered Autobots. {{storylink|Surrender!}}

Bludgeon was seen fighting on Scorponok's side during the subsequent [[Decepticon Civil War]] {{storylink|...All This and Civil War 2}} and was transported with all of them to [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] by [[Primus]]. Primus (speaking through the body of [[Emirate]] [[Xaaron]]) told them of the history between himself and Unicron, while Bludgeon cleaned his sword. He was there also to quell the sudden [[Acolyte of Unicron|Unicron cultist]] uprising, remarking that to a master of [[Metallikato]], their moves were like slow motion. {{storylink|The Void! (US)|The Void!}} When Unicron himself arrived, though, the superstitious Bludgeon ran like hell. {{storylink|On the Edge of Extinction!}} Thankfully, Optimus Prime's sacrifice saved them all, and Bludgeon was there standing over Prime's body with a few others as he died. The Autobot/Decepticon alliance that emerged was shaky and the Decepticons leaderless, so Bludgeon and [[Krok (G1)|Krok]] discussed a plan of their own. {{storylink|Still Life!}}

[[File:Bludgeonlastautobot.jpg|left|upright=1.4|thumb|It's a good thing the Battlechargers were dead then, or Bludgeon's shell would've been totally ganked.]]
Tensions came to a head when [[Blaster (G1)|Blaster]] discovered that Cybertron was tearing itself apart in the aftermath of the Transformers' victory against Unicron. While Bludgeon openly kept the peace (like keeping [[Fangry (G1)|Fangry]] in line at meetings), he and Krok began to worry that some of the Decepticons were in ''favour'' of peaceful alliance and plotted to break it up. New Autobot leader Grimlock almost gave them an opening by beating the tar out of Fangry, until [[Prowl (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Prowl]] stopped the fight; Bludgeon quickly exploited the situation anyway, demanding the full details of the Autobots' plans.

Now knowing they intended to start anew on another planet and live in peace, he sabotaged the Autobot ships and assumed command of the Decepticons. He gave the troops a rousing speech, condemning the Autobot plan as weak and advocating a return to conquest as was the Decepticon way. Having risen from the ranks to light their darkest hour, he was cheered on by the Decepticons. {{storylink|Exodus!}}

[[File:Bludgeon-youlie1.jpg|thumb|Look at him go. What a skeleton!]]
With his Decepticons eager for conquest, Bludgeon randomly selected the planet of [[Klo]] as their first target. {{storylink|A Savage Circle}} The peaceful inhabitants of Klo were easily (and violently) subdued, and Bludgeon thought this planet did not meet the challenges befitting their warrior race. In turn, Krok pleased him with news that their ships were bugged and that they should be expecting the Autobots to be arriving soon. {{storylink|The Last Autobot?}}

Indeed, when the Autobots arrived, Bludgeon's Decepticons were ready for them, luring them into an ambush—only five Autobots escaped their purge, and Bludgeon sent a small hunting party after them. Ultimate victory was snatched from Bludgeon only by divine intervention. The [[Last Autobot]] arrived with a resurrected Optimus Prime and the [[Neo-Knights]]. Bludgeon rejected this development on religious grounds; the Last Autobot, according to his beliefs, was the Ultimate Warrior, who was bent on conquest. He ordered his troops to attack the "unbelievers". Ultimately, the Decepticons were defeated. The Last Autobot was able to revive the fallen Autobots at will, and Bludgeon was forced to admit defeat and withdraw. As he and the Decepticons retreated, he promised a "solitary exile" to the Autobots—while saying that they were fleeing to fight another day to his subordinates. {{storylink|End of the Road! (US)|End of the Road!}}
{{-}}

=====Marvel UK future timelines=====
[[File:Aspects of evil bludgeon.jpg|left|75px|thumb|GIVE ME YOUR THROAT.]]
In an alternate [[1990]], [[Hot Rod (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Hot Rod]] was captured by the Decepticons and freed by an agent placed within their ranks. [[Megatron (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Megatron]] accused Bludgeon of being the culprit, and Bludgeon demanded the chance to prove himself through [[Trial by Combat]]. He was released and chased by [[Octopunch (G1)|Octopunch]], [[Stranglehold]] and [[Warmonger]]. Bludgeon easily dispatched the former two but was caught from behind by Warmonger, who couldn't bring himself to kill in cold blood. Realizing who the infiltrator was, Megatron destroyed Warmonger, then reflected that it would have simply been easier to kill all four of them. {{storylink|Aspects of Evil!}}
{{-}}

=====Earthforce=====
{{earthforcefiction}}
[[File:UKBludgeonEarthForce.jpg|thumb|There wolf!]]
Following Catilla's death, the Mayhems set up a base on a deserted island, where Needlenose decided to test their response time in an emergency. Enraged, Bludgeon threatened to tear him apart, but was stopped by Snarler. As Needlenose returned to his quarters, he was ambushed by Carnivac, who had snuck in during the chaos caused by his "drill". His calls for help were ignored by Snarler and Bludgeon, who thought that their comrade was once more lying about the emergency. {{storylink|Cry Wolf!}} Carnivac decided to pick off Bludgeon next, finding him meditating. Bludgeon sensed him coming and took him on, and the other Mayhems responded to the commotion. Bludgeon wanted to finish this traitor with his blade as well, but Spinister decided to end it summarily by slagging Carnivac with his blaster instead. {{storylink|Wolf in the Fold!}} Angry at losing his kill, Bludgeon was pleased to find [[Earthforce]] attacking them, in an attempt to rescue Carnivac. He and his fellow Pretenders were defeated, outnumbered by the Autobots. But before they could be executed, a shell-less Carnivac appeared and told the Autobots to spare them, denying them a warrior's death. {{storylink|Where Wolf?}}

Captives of Earthforce, Bludgeon and his Pretender partners were held in a cell together. To get free, Bludgeon arranged a most subtle escape attempt with his cell mates. At first, they all remained completely silent for an extended period of time, partly to unnerve their guard, [[Inferno (G1)|Inferno]], but also to give Bludgeon time to make mental contact with his katana, locked away in the property vault. Once he found the weapon and began summoning it back to him through the hallways, Bludgeon signaled Stranglehold to begin pounding frantically on the floor. This sudden activity spooked Inferno into opening the cell door to pacify the prisoner, only to wind up with a floating sword in his backside. The Pretenders then simply walked out over his leaking body. {{storylink|Shut Up!}}

Afterwards, Bludgeon and the others hooked up with Megatron and Shockwave, the deposed leaders of the Decepticons, and took on a bounty to assassinate their betrayers, [[Starscream (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Starscream]] and [[Soundwave (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Soundwave]]. {{storylink|Assassins}} Though the Pretenders were only meant to eliminate whichever of their targets had survived an orchestrated battle between the pair, they found both Starscream and Soundwave functional upon their arrival. Unperturbed, Bludgeon and his teammates surmised that they could ask to be paid double for the hit once it had been completed. {{storylink|External Forces!}} The assassins outnumbered their prey, but they hadn't counted on the Autobots intervening on Starscream's behalf. It seemed the Dinobot [[Snarl (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Snarl]] was dying, and could only be saved by a systems boost from a compatible Transformer, namely Starscream. [[Swoop (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Swoop]] and [[Sludge (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Sludge]] joined the fight on Starscream's side, and the Mayhems were defeated. {{storylink|The Lesser Evil!}}

=====Another Time & Place=====
[[File:BludgeonStrangleholdOctopunch-AnotherTimeAndPlace.jpg|left|thumb|upright=0.85|Bludgeon: All skeleton, no spine.]]
After the defeat on Klo, Bludgeon decided the Decepticons needed some "old blood" back in charge. He traveled to Earth and retrieved the deactivated body of [[Megatron (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Megatron]] from the wreckage of the [[Ark (G1)|Ark]]. Then, he seized upon an opportunity to follow Grimlock and the [[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobots]] to [[Hydrus Four]], the source of the miraculous energy known as [[Nucleon (substance)|Nucleon]] which had supercharged the Dinobot commander. Slipping ahead of the Dinobots as they made their way to the medical facility, Bludgeon and his Decepticons set up a [[Holocaust Trigger]] to trap the Dinobots, disabling them without firing a shot. Unfortunately for Bludgeon, he ignored [[Fangry (G1)|Fangry]]'s cries of "Let's just kill them already!" and instead planned on keeping Grimlock and the Dinobots alive long enough for them to witness the triumphant resurrection of Megatron. That didn't mean, however, that he kept his fellow Decepticons from aggressively torturing their fallen captives.

In a matter of hours, a full scale Autobot strike force had tracked the Dinobots down to Hydrus Four and assaulted Bludgeon's position. Fearing his rag-tag team of Decepticons wouldn't be enough, Bludgeon accelerated Megatron's revival, sending the half-mad, half-living monstrosity at Optimus Prime. He had no time to gloat, though—the heavily-injured Dinobot known as Swoop had dragged himself to the control module for one of the [[repair spider|medical machines]] in the area, setting its spidery arms to work on Bludgeon, disassembling him in seconds down to his core components.

Bludgeon didn't even have time to scream. {{storylink|Another Time & Place}}
{{-}}

====Marvel ''Generation 2'' comic====
{{note|The ''Generation 2'' stories take place after the end of the original Marvel Comic, but does not include the events of "Another Time & Place", which takes place in a [[splinter timeline]].}}
[[File:Bludgeontalesofearth.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|G2, home of New Extreme Weapons.]]
Optimus Prime considered Bludgeon a defeated threat. When the [[Cybertronian (faction)|Empire]] was discovered, he considered if "Bludgeon had lied about his plans" but decided that this was too advanced an operation. {{storylink|War Without End!}}

Turns out Prime was dumb as what Bludgeon had actually meant by "solitary exile" was "build a slag-off big planet-like spacecraft called the [[Warworld]] and attack vessels for their cargo across the galaxy". {{storylink|Primal Fear!|Old Evils}} He also battled Optimus Prime and the Autobots over a store of ancient alien weapons, but an [[Guardian (G2)|alien entity]] drove him off. {{storylink|Ghosts}} After that, he went back to stealing resources—and finished the construction of a [[Bludgeon's new army|new generation of Decepticon warriors]], who just needed the Matrix to come back to life. That meant luring Prime to him... {{storylink|Primal Fear!|Old Evils}}

[[File:Bludgeon-PowerAndTheGlory.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|Also, so very much less.]]
To lure Prime out, Bludgeon launched a full-scale attack on Earth and did succeed in drawing Optimus Prime to Earth's defense, but not before Bludgeon was confronted by the newly-rebuilt [[Megatron (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Megatron]], who wanted command of the Decepticons for himself once more. {{storylink|Devices and Desires! (Marvel)|Tales of Earth Part One}} Bludgeon destroyed Megatron's gun with one swipe of his blade, but neglected to realize how enhanced the new Megatron was—the former Decepticon leader ripped Bludgeon's Pretender skull off with one hand. Undaunted, Bludgeon proclaimed himself an agent of chaos and transformed into his little-used tank mode to confront Megatron on his own terms. He briefly drove back Megatron, but ultimately the Decepticons' founder proved to be too much for their current leader, and his new railgun destroyed Bludgeon utterly. {{storylink|The Power and the Glory|Tales of Earth Part Two}}

[[File:Megatron ignores Bludgeon's severed head.jpg|upright=1.6|thumb|If you think this is harsh Bludgeon, Swindle would've sold your skull on eBay by now.]]
The victorious Decepticon leader subsequently displayed Bludgeon's severed head in the Warworld, though he did muse that he might have spared Bludgeon's life if he'd known how much the guy had achieved and envisioned with limited time and resources. {{storylink|The Gathering Darkness}} Later on, the Decepticons would try not to say the word "bludgeon" around Megatron (even with the "to hit things" meaning) just in case it annoyed him. {{storylink|New Dawn}}
{{-}}

====Fleetway ''Generation 2'' comic====
[[File:Bludgeon-WarWithoutEndUK.jpg|thumb|upright=0.85|thumb|[[Robin Smith]], copying a [[character model]] pose??? [[Ravage (G1)|Never!]]]]
Intending to draw out Autobots to Earth and steal the Matrix to bring a new generation of Decepticons to life, Bludgeon attacked Earth in force—specifically [[London]]. Unfortunately for him, the Autobots were already there, and attacked just as his troops were low on fuel. Bludgeon fought Optimus in direct combat and lost. {{storylink|War Without End (issue)|War Without End}} When Megatron turned up afterwards to fight Optimus, Bludgeon's men actually ''attacked'' Megatron just in case it was Bludgeon he was stomping: [[Rage (G1)|Rage]] bluntly said that the Pretender was their boss, not the old guy.

Bludgeon sneaked away {{storylink|War Zone}} to try exactly the same tactic again. {{storylink|Devices and Desires! (Marvel)|Tales of Earth Part One}}—and learned if at first you don't succeed, Try #2 will get you killed by Megatron. {{storylink|The Power and the Glory|Tales of Earth Part Two}}
{{-}}

====''Classics''====
{{noteclassics}}
[[File:Bludgeon Piranacon AtFightsEnd.jpg|left|upright=0.85|thumb|Is that you, Brainiac?]]
Optimus Prime was reluctant to prolong the war by following Bludgeon and his followers across the galaxy, but [[Grimlock (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Grimlock]] was more than happy to. Grimlock, [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Ultra Magnus]], and a crew of others searched and fought Bludgeon's Decepticons in the fringes of known space, but to no known resolution. At some point the mysterious Decepticon, [[Bug Bite (GoBots)|Bug Bite]], joined Bludgeon's Decepticons, and Bludgeon put him in charge of his own subgroup. {{storylink|Games of Deception}}

As Bludgeon became aware of Megatron's re-emergence, he began to prepare his forces to repel an attempted coup by the former Decepticon leader. Bludgeon and his Sub-Commander [[Snaptrap (G1)|Snaptrap]] were readying their battleplans when [[Darkwing (G1)|Darkwing]] brought to his attention their plans may have been compromised from within. They apparently identified the traitor working for Megatron, [[Hun-Gurrr (G1)|Hun-Gurrr]] of the [[Terrorcon (G1)|Terrorcon]]s, and so Bludgeon confronted him with the [[Seacon (G1)|Seacon]]s. A fight broke out between [[Abominus (G1)|Abominus]] and [[Piranacon (G1)|Piranacon]] as a result, but Bludgeon's loyal gestalt won, and so they returned to battle preparation. In the war room, Bludgeon became so intent on watching for Megatron's next move on the monitors that he failed to notice Seawing removing his sword. Only after the Seacons had formed Piranacon again did Bludgeon finally realize he had miscalculated. Piranacon's mass compression cannon destroyed the Pretender completely, leaving room for Megatron to swoop in and claim full leadership of the Decepticons. {{storylink|At Fight's End}}
{{-}}

====''Regeneration One''====
{{noterg1}}
[[File:BludgeonVision DestinyPt3.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.1|Everyone is asking the same question.]]
Bludgeon felt his warrior's honor was deeply tarnished on [[Klo]], when he faltered and retreated instead of fighting to his death. The various conquests and victories the Decepticons achieved since then did nothing to remove that stain. Deep in meditation, Bludgeon received a vision of his own glorious death at the hands of a worthy opponent back on Cybertron, and he began plotting to bring this future about. {{storylink|Destiny, Part Three}}

Twenty years after the defeat at Klo, the Autobots unaware of his location, Bludgeon was finally ready to take his revenge. He contacted [[Soundwave (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Soundwave]] at the secret [[Fort Scyk]] base, revealing he had agents on Cybertron and even in the Neo-Decepticons, and requested Soundwave retrieve a valuable resource for him in exchange for aid against the Autobots. {{storylink|Loose Ends, Part 1}} The moment came when [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Optimus Prime]] and many of his warriors were occupied on Earth. Soundwave contacted Bludgeon as his men eliminated another bio-mechanical species on [[Torkulon]], telling him to expect delivery soon. {{storylink|Loose Ends, Part 3}}

Soundwave successfully retrieved the Matrix-infused remains of [[Thunderwing (G1)|Lord Thunderwing]], the "spark" Bludgeon needed to bring life to his [[Blitz Engine]]s—adaptable, self-regenerating war machines of tremendous power. {{storylink|Natural Selection, Part Three}} The spark was lit, and Bludgeon and Soundwave observed a successful field test of the Engines' power on [[Cresta Superior]]. {{storylink|Destiny, Part One}} Soundwave returned to Cybertron and used his Neo-Decepticons to orchestrate the total blinding of Cybertron's long-range sensors, allowing Bludgeon and the Warworld to come within striking distance unnoticed. {{storylink|Destiny, Part Two}}

As the siege began, Bludgeon dropped Blitz Engine troopers all over Cybertron, devastating Autobot defensive measures. The Warworld was transmitting Matrix-energy to power the Engines' sparks, and so it needed to be close to the assault, but Bludgeon initially refrained from bringing the Warworld's more awe-inspiring weapons to activation. Something needed to be left of Cybertron to rule, after all. Still, at his troops' encouragement, Bludgeon agreed to a symbolic strike. Hacking the Autobot surveillance feed, he made them watch as the Warworld's city-killer armaments were brought down on top of a single target: [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Ultra Magnus]]. (Miraculously, Magnus survived by using the body of [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]] as a super-dense shield.) {{storylink|Destiny, Part Four}}

[[File:RodimusVBludgeon DestinyPt5.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.5|"C'mon, beat me up! I'll even sing "[[The Touch]]" for you if need be."]]
Bludgeon sent his soldiers to join the Neo-Decepticon forces on the ground, but remained on board the Warworld in anticipation of his final battle. He easily dispatched the [[Wrecker]]s commando unit sent to disable the Thunderwing link to the Blitz Engines, and was prepared to deliver the killing stroke to [[Kup (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Kup]] when his fated opponent arrived: ''[[Hot Rod (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Rodimus Prime]]'', freshly empowered by an alternate Creation Matrix and ascended to the name of Prime. Unimpressed at first, Bludgeon learned otherwise when Rodimus Prime caught his blade in mid-strike. The battle after that was swift but certain, as Rodimus threw Bludgeon out of the Warworld, letting him hurtle uncontrollably into the planet's surface below. {{storylink|Less Than Zero}} {{storylink|Destiny, Part Five}}

Adding insult to horrible, horrible injury, Rodimus found Bludgeon's still smoldering frame after the battle. Bludgeon lived, barely, and insisted Rodimus finish the job. Instead, Rodimus Prime refused to grant Bludgeon his "glorious death", and ordered Autobot medics to make sure Bludgeon survived to suffer the ignominy of imprisonment. {{storylink|The War to End All Wars, Part 1}}
{{-}}

===Dreamwave ''Generation One'' continuity===
[[File:WarWithin Escalation Bludgeons vision.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.4|EPIC FORESHADOWING.]]
During the so-called [[Dark Ages]] of the Autobot-Decepticon conflict, Bludgeon, alongside [[Bugly (G1)|Bugly]] and [[Mindwipe (G1)|Mindwipe]], formed the [[Chaos Trinity]], a group that sought to harness the dark forces of the universe and use them to their advantage. During one of their ceremonies in the [[Polities of Cybertron|Orbital Torus State]] of [[Kalis]], they were interrupted by the mysterious being known as [[The Fallen]], who applauded their amateur theatrics while mocking the lack of substance behind their words. He offered them [[Furmanism|power beyond measure]] in exchange for their servitude, a proposal that Bludgeon at first boldly refused, then agreed to once The Fallen changed the term for which they would be referred to. The Fallen tasked his new "disciples" with capturing a number of Transformers in order to perform a bizarre ceremony called The [[Unbinding]] in [[Well of All Sparks|Cybertron's core]]. {{storylink|Fragmentation (G1)|Fragmentation}} Soon, Bludgeon began to chafe at being ordered around without any tangible reward, so The Fallen gave him a glimpse of the dark power, ensuring the Decepticon's loyalty. While the [[Wrecker]]s and [[Ultracon]]s busied themselves with their civil war, unaware of the events unfolding, Bludgeon formulated a strategy to capture two of their targets: the Trinity would exploit [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]]'s twisted sense of justice and have him deliver himself and [[Jetfire (G1)|Jetfire]] into their trap. {{storylink|Escalation}}

When Jetfire met with [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]] in the [[Neutral Territories]] to discuss their suspicions about an outside force influencing the current conflict, the Trinity sprung their trap, attacking the Decepticon Commander. Bludgeon declared that once he would have never dared face Shockwave in battle, but he had been given new insights into the [[dark science]] and his ability to see the bigger picture, the latter no longer stood a chance. Once Shockwave was taken care of, the Trinity captured Jetfire, but noticed that Grimlock hadn't taken the bait of Jetfire's supposed treachery. As they prepared to leave, Grimlock jumped them, forcing The Fallen to step in. {{storylink|Revelation (The Dark Ages)|Revelation}}

[[File:WarWithin Confrontation BludgeonBlades.jpg|thumb|left|upright=2.2|And you call yourself 'Blades'? You don't even have a blade!]]
With two of the targets secured, The Fallen ordered the Trinity to capture [[Hot Spot (G1)|Hot Spot]], leader of the [[Protectobot (G1)|Protectobots]], while he would take care of the fourth target personally. In the ruins of [[Iacon (polity)|Iacon]], while the Protectobots were discussing their problems with maintaining their control while combined as [[Defensor (G1)|Defensor]], Bludgeon and the Trinity attacked, taking down the other Protectobots with ease and capturing Hot Spot. {{storylink|Confrontation (issue)|Confrontation}}

While The Fallen used the four prisoners to unlock the [[Seal of Primus]], Bludgeon and the others were forced to defend the access shaft to the underground chamber against the Decepticons. Though Bludgeon stood resolute, ordering his comrades to fight on, with the faith that they would be rewarded for their loyal service, his resolve soon crumbled when the Autobots and the [[Lightning Strike Coalition]] joined forces with Shockwave and eliminated Bugly and Mindwipe. Bludgeon escaped underground to seek his master, only to be gunned down by a teleporting [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]]. {{storylink|Conflagration}}
{{-}}

===Dreamwave ''Armada'' continuity===
====Ask Vector Prime====
In a universe ultimately destroyed by [[Unicron]], Bludgeon joined [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]]'s team of [[Herald of Unicron|Heralds of Unicron]] to serve [[Last Autobot|the Ultimate Warrior]]. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/09/19}}

====Dreamwave ''Armada'' comic====
[[File:DWDropshot sliced.jpg|left|upright=1.4|thumb|Silent but deadly.]]
Bludgeon, Galvatron, [[Dirge (G1)|Dirge]], [[Thunderwing (G1)|Thunderwing]], and [[Scourge (G1)|Scourge]] were sent to prepare [[Aurex 402.24 Gamma|this universe]]'s Cybertron for Unicron's arrival, starting with capturing the [[Decepticon Command Headquarters]]. {{storylink|Worlds Collide, Part 1 of 4}} After the group had activated all the [[space bridge]]s in the [[space bridge nexus]] in order to destabilize local space-time, Bludgeon was left to guard the nexus while the other three went to [[Earth]]. {{storylink|Worlds Collide, Part 2 of 4}} He attacked [[Jetfire (Armada)|Jetfire]]'s unit when they arrived to investigate and put up a formidable assault (as [[Dropshot (Armada)|Dropshot]] could attest), though the Autobots eventually realized the secret to his technique and forced him to retreat, leaving behind his Pretender shell. {{storylink|Worlds Collide, Part 3 of 4}} He returned when Jetfire attempted to use the space-bridge portal, but like the rest of the Heralds was shortly blown up when the Autobot detonated the entire base. {{storylink|Worlds Collide, Part 4 of 4}}
{{-}}

===''G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers''===
[[File:Bludgeon Robot GIJoe.jpg|upright=0.8|thumb|Bludgeon always secretly dreamed of being a [[Visionaries|Visionary]].]]
Eons ago, when [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]] was given the [[Matrix of Leadership]], Bludgeon attempted to kill him, but failed.

Along with the [[Pretender Monster]]s, Bludgeon traveled to Earth, seeking to be present at the planet's destruction by Unicron. The group was shot down by the [[China|Chinese]] Air Force, however, and damaged in the process. An alliance with the underground kingdom of [[Cobra-La]] provided them with life-sustaining [[Pretender]] shells in exchange for protecting the kingdom. He was responsible for the death of [[Atomic Man]] in 1978, when the [[Adventure Team (G.I. Joe)|Adventure Team]] came snooping too close to Cobra-La's hidden lair in the caves beneath [[Tibet]]. {{storylink|Black Horizon, Part 1 of 2}}

Decades later, Bludgeon engaged Optimus Prime in battle as the Autobot attempted to infiltrate Cobra-La's caves. After being burned by Bludgeon, Optimus ripped the chest from Bludgeon's Pretender shell. In his anger, Bludgeon lost his edge and fell off a cliff. Although Optimus had caught him, Bludgeon chose to fall, standing by his philosophy of "merciless death and destruction." {{storylink|Black Horizon, Part 2 of 2}}
{{-}}

===IDW Generation 1 continuity===
[[File:Bludgeon Thundercracker SLOrionPax.jpg|upright=1.55|thumb|left|I seek glory, power, enlightenment, and my lower jaw.]]
In the earliest days of the war, Bludgeon was ordered by [[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]] to capture [[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]] so that the Decepticons could use him to find [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]]. To this end, he kidnapped [[Ratchet (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ratchet]] and organized a hostage exchange in the [[Rust Sea|Rust Spot]], knowing that the Autobots would have to use Alpha Trion to find their way through the area. The plan worked up until that point, but Alpha Trion escaped his clutches thanks to the efforts of [[Optimus Prime (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Orion Pax]], one of the hostage exchangers. As payback, Bludgeon had him strapped to a shuttle programmed crash into the nearest settlement, and though Orion tried to stall for time by telling him he'd go far in life only to overreach and become a symbol of failure, Bludgeon didn't really care and launched his captive into the sky. {{storylink|Omega's Conundrum}}

[[File:Bludgeon altmode TheHuntingParty.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|Ancient Metallikato secret...the flying tank.]]
Following Metroplex's departure from Cybertron, Bludgeon continued his hunt for the [[Titan (IDW)|Titan]] using the starship ''[[Empirion]]''. One of his subordinates, [[Thundercracker (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Thundercracker]], tracked their prey to a desolate planetoid inhabitated by some pesky [[Urtuskian|aliens]], so Bludgeon commenced planetary bombardment to get them out of the way. The assault attracted the attention of a group of Autobots who rammed and crippled the ''Empirion'', forcing Bludgeon to abandon ship and fight them until Thundercracker reported that Metroplex was nowhere to be found. As the Decepticons retreated to continue their hunt elsewhere, Bludgeon had Thundercracker transferred out of his unit for seemingly having led them into an Autobot trap. {{storylink|The Hunting Party (IDW)|The Hunting Party}}

During the war, Bludgeon formed an army of "deviants and half-forms" in event that would be remembered as one of the most horrible things the Decepticons did. {{storylink|Life After the Big Bang}}

[[File:SpotlightSoundwave Bludgeon defeatsLaserbeakRavage.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.66|Wait, does this mean that Piranacon [[Bludgeon (G1)#Classics|is stealthier]] than ''Ravage''?]]
Bludgeon was the leader of a team of Decepticons (including [[Iguanus (G1)|Iguanus]], [[Finback]], [[Skullgrin]], and [[Bomb-Burst (G1)|Bomb-Burst]]) who were assigned by Megatron to look into what [[Shockwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Shockwave]]'s various projects were when he disappeared. {{storylink|Spotlight: Shockwave}} Megatron also sent [[Soundwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Soundwave]] to spy on them. {{storylink|Shockpoint}} During this time, Bludgeon discovered Shockwave's work on [[Regenesis]]. Eventually, however, they discovered the remains of [[Thunderwing (G1)|Thunderwing]], the Decepticon scientist who became the cause of the Cybertronian cataclysm. Bludgeon came to believe that Thunderwing was an avatar of the apocalypse, and became bent on restoring the wasted Cybertron to its former glory by resurrecting him. He and his team of Decepticons believed that in reawakening Thunderwing and turning him loose, the mass sacrifice of worlds would allow the rebirth of Cybertron. They also delved into the outlawed [[Pretender|polydermal grafting]] experiments pioneered by Thunderwing, in an attempt to create super-shells of their own.

In [[1984]] they went to [[Earth]] to extract a load of [[Ore-13|Ultra-Energon]], establishing a base within Mt. St. Helens. Soundwave naturally followed them. He eventually came to them asking for a cut of their profits, believing that they meant to sell the energon, but when he realized that they meant to resurrect Thunderwing he tried to stop them. They used one of Shockwave's devices to lock him in his alt-mode, then caused a volcanic eruption and returned to Cybertron via an [[orbital jump|orbital bounce]]. {{storylink|Spotlight: Soundwave}}

[[File:IDWBludgeonShell.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|Yes... I feel it, the power... fills me. Yes, I feel the universe within me! I am... I am a part of the cosmos! Its energy flows... flows through me! Of what consequence are you now?]]
Twenty-three years later, [[Jetfire (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Jetfire]] and the [[Technobot (G1)|Technobots]], detecting the Ultra-Energon from orbit, went to investigate, and were taken by the cult, planning to use them as raw materials for their shells. {{storylink|Stormbringer issue 1|Stormbringer #1}} Bludgeon wanted Jetfire to witness Thunderwing's awakening, to make him see that Thunderwing had been right to experiment, but Jetfire eventually annoyed him too much. Connecting his mind to an [[axis cradle]] that controlled Thunderwing's blank neuroscape, Bludgeon sent Thunderwing to destroy [[Nebulos]], then engaged the auto-drive to inspect his own shell's progress. {{storylink|Stormbringer issue 2|Stormbringer #2}} When [[Optimus Prime (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Optimus Prime]] and the Wreckers attacked Bludgeon's base on Cybertron by surprise, Iguanus escaped to the bio-graft chamber to find Bludgeon—only to find the cult leader having donned full polydermal armor. However, in Bludgeon's rush, the shell was not mentally aligned, causing a psychic backlash that took down the Decepticon before the Wreckers even found him. It is unclear whether Bludgeon's mind survived, but if it did, it is apparently trapped in torment. Prime felt that he got off lightly for having unleashed Thunderwing. {{storylink|Stormbringer issue 3|Stormbringer #3}}

[[File:SpotlightSideswipe Bludgeon attacks.jpg|left|thumb|upright=0.95|"I can tell you're happy to see me, Craig...IN YOUR PANTS!"]]
After the defeat of Thunderwing, Bludgeon was transferred to [[Garrus-9]], where [[Fortress Maximus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Fortress Maximus]] stored his extracted [[spark]] in the Rig. {{storylink|Spotlight: Arcee}}

However, during [[Nova Prime|Nemesis Prime]]'s attempt to bring forth the [[Expansion]], Bludgeon (his shell at least) was reactivated inside his cell by [[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]] to stop Jetfire from attempting to take control of Thunderwing. {{storylink|Spotlight: Doubledealer}}

The remote-controlled Bludgeon sliced its way into Jetfire's lab and Jhiaxus planned to have it kill the Autobot. However, multiple fronts of Autobot resistance at each [[Nega-Core]] kept Jhiaxus from focusing his full attention on controlling Bludgeon, and he was forced to abandon his effort to kill Jetfire. [[Cloudraker (G1)|Cloudraker]] and [[Fastlane]] arrived and quickly disarmed the now-inert Bludgeon, and Jetfire borrowed the Pretender's [[sword]] to go aid Optimus Prime in his fight against Nemesis Prime. Bludgeon's body was presumably returned to confinement afterwards. {{storylink|Spotlight: Sideswipe}}

[[File:AHM bludgeoniseeevill.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|Another inconsistency [[John Barber]] has to fix.]]
Somehow freed from Garrus-9 and again in possession of his full faculties (such as they were), Bludgeon was given command of the ''[[Torment]]'', a Decepticon warship crewed by the [[Pretender Monster|Monstructor Six]]. Still displaying cultish fanaticism and a cruel streak a mile wide, he urged his crew onward in pursuit of the maverick Autobot [[Hot Rod (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Hot Rod]]. Downing the Autobot's shuttlecraft, Bludgeon had his ship land and crew disembark to sacrifice Hot Rod for the greater purpose of restoring Cybertron. With the untimely arrival of the crew of the battleship ''[[Trion]]'', Bludgeon ordered his acolytes to form Monstructor and crush the Autobots. However, his forces were put to rout by a precise shot from [[Perceptor (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Perceptor]]'s sniper rifle, which hit the vulnerable connecting joint of the large combiner. Appearing to realize what he was up against, Bludgeon sounded the retreat. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 15|Lost & Found}} In actuality, he was leading the pursuing ''Trion'' to Cybertron, where several Decepticon battlecruisers staged an ambush, sending the Autobot craft plummeting to the planet below. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 5|All Hail Megatron #5}}

[[File:Bludgeon Wheelie Syndromica1.jpg|left|100px|thumb|Annnnnd ''fixed''. Thanks, John!]]
Several years later, learning that Jhiaxus had returned and was the captive of [[Hardhead (G1)|Hardhead]] and [[Wheelie (G1)|his]] [[Garnak|crew]], Bludgeon, following the orders of Shockwave, put into motion a plan to liberate him. Taking Monstructor to the planet [[Arduria]], he sent out a phony distress call that lured Hardhead's crew—joined now by Orion Pax, formerly Optimus Prime—to the frozen world. While Monstructor kept Hardhead and Orion busy, Bludgeon penetrated their ship, easily cutting his way through [[Garnak]] and [[Wheelie (G1)|Wheelie]] and liberating Jhiaxus. Together, the villains set off to track down the other planets that had been targeted by the Regenesis program crafted by Shockwave, who had been Jhiaxus's greatest student. {{storylink|Syndromica (1)}}

[[File:Syndromica2 pax vs bludgeon.jpg|upright=0.9|thumb|Weak sword or sturdy gun?]]
Bludgeon arrived on planet [[LV-117]], which thanks to the Regenesis missile that had landed there, existed in a constant state of chronal flux. After they both separately came in contact with the time machine aboard [[Turmoil]]'s stolen ship, Bludgeon and Orion Pax were sent adrift across different eras of the planet, moving in opposite directions through time in relation to each other. Bludgeon managed to steal the device that allowed LV-117's inhabitants to control their planet's journey through time and slew Wheelie's friend [[Varta]] in the process, before he and Jhiaxus escaped aboard Turmoil's ship. {{storylink|Syndromica (2)}}

The villains tracked down [[Waspinator (BW)|Waspinator]], one of Bludgeon's old [[Titan Hunter]] subordinates, who had once managed to control a Titan. After duping Orion Pax into raising a deactivated Titan on [[Gorlam Prime]], they used Waspinator to seize control of it. The Titan's [[space bridge]] was used to teleport it back to Cybertron, and Jhiaxus' group followed in their own ship. {{storylink|Homecoming (IDW)|Homecoming}} They arrived on Cybertron to join with Shockwave shortly thereafter. {{storylink|The Dead Are Not Enough: Dark Cybertron Chapter 7|The Dead Are Not Enough}} Bludgeon watched silently as Jhiaxus prepared to undertake Shockwave's master plan. {{storylink|Finis Temporis: Dark Cybertron Chapter 9|Finis Temporis}} The completion of the chronal drive came just in time for the invasion of Cybertron by Shockwave's allies, the [[Ammonite]]s. {{storylink|The Becoming: Dark Cybertron Chapter 10|The Becoming}}

Bludgeon began expressing some small doubts of the plan, as he came to realize that his master, Jhiaxus, was actually subservient to Shockwave. Still, he remained at their side, striking out against the Autobots and Decepticons who invaded Crystal City to stop Shockwave's plot. He struck down [[Waspinator (BW)|Waspinator]] and laughed at [[Skids (G1)|Skids]] and his copied Metallikato moves. As he prepared to execute [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ultra Magnus]], however, Bludgeon was blasted by Optimus Prime, as the Autobot leader and his team re-emerged from the Dead Universe. {{storylink|Black Planet: Dark Cybertron Chapter 11|Black Planet}} Bludgeon was last seen as Ultra Magnus checked the fallen warrior for signs of life, but ultimately left him behind. {{storylink|...And the Damage Done: Dark Cybertron Finale|...And the Damage Done}}

[[File:BludgeonslicesBarricade Redemption.jpg|upright=1.2|thumb|left|]]
Managing to escape from the Crystal City before it was consumed into a singularity, Bludgeon set up residence in the Sea of Rust, and in the following months, he discovered that the [[Hot spot]] in [[Alyon]] had reignited with Sparks. He proceeded to perform horrifying experiments upon some of them, including placing some of the sparks within the remains of fallen [[Sweep (G1)|Sweeps]] and mutant [[Turbofox]]es, as well as messing with the corrupted energon emanating from the fallen [[Trypticon (G1)|Trypticon]].

Upon discovering a convoy protected by the [[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobots]] which contained sparks from the colony of [[Caminus]], Bludgeon set some of his Sweeps upon them, but when they were driven off by a [[Torchbearer|second group]] he instead had them followed. Taking advantage of an attack from the [[Badgeless]], Bludgeon attacked the truck himself, destroying it, [[Barricade (G1)|Barricade]] and the sparks. Easily disregarding the attack from [[Strafe (IDW)|Strafe]], Bludgeon hurled her into the corrupted energon, curious to see what it would do as it began mutating her. However the equally distraught [[Swift (G1)|Swift]], upset at Barricade's death, damned him for robbing himself of his "future" by destroying the sparks. Disgusted with the amoral scientist, she pushed Bludgeon over a cliff into a pool of the contaminated energon, only narrowly saved from joining him when [[Slag (G1)|Slug]] caught her by the wrist. Doubting that Bludgeon had perished, Strafe and the Dinobots decided to seek him out and make sure he suffered. {{storylink|The Transformers: Redemption|Redemption}}

===''Mini Mayhem!''===
After [[Bombshell (G1)|Bombshell]] asked him why his Pretender shell had a skeleton's face, Bludgeon explained that it once looked human, but its face was melted off after witnessing [[w:Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade|the opening of the Ark of the Covenant]]. The incident totally ruined his chances at being that year's prom king. {{storylink|Mini Mayhem!}}

===A Tale of the Pretenders===
[[File:Tale of Pretenders Bludgeon.jpg|thumb|left|250px|"''Nyeh-heh-heh!'' Soon the secrets of Castle Greyskull will be mine!"]]

With other Decepticon Pretenders, Bludgeon was active in ancient [[Japan]]. One day, they came across three [[human]] siblings and threatened them. The oldest managed to escape and both [[Iguanus (G1)|Iguanus]] and [[Carnivac (G1)|Carnivac]] pursued the remaining two while the other Decepticons followed. Bludgeon found the entire thing beneath their notice, but was rebuked by [[Octopunch (G1)|Octopunch]], who desired to play with the humans. Octopunch was about to step on the two when [[Metalhawk (Masterforce)|Metalhawk]] leapt to the rescue. Impressed by this apparent human, Bludgeon challenged him to a duel, but he ultimately proved lacking. Despite the rescuees trying to defend Metalhawk, Bludgeon was about to go in for the kill when other Autobot Pretenders appeared and fought off the Decepticons. Bludgeon and Metalhawk continued their duel, which Metalhawk managed to end by sending Bludgeon falling into a lava pit. {{storylink|A Tale of the Pretenders}}
{{-}}

===''Transformers vs. G.I. Joe''===
The otherworldly guardian of the entrance to the [[AllSpark|Matrix]], Bludgeon blocked the path of [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]] and [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]]'s souls on their journey to the great beyond, demanding they present the "[[Key to Vector Sigma|key]] to [[Vector Sigma|Vector Stigmata]]" before they could pass. While Prime revealed the key and was granted passage by the gatekeeper, Grimlock could not produce one and was refused entry until Prime let him have his key. {{storylink|Transformers vs. G.I. Joe issue 12|Transformers vs. G.I. Joe #12}}

===''Of Masters and Mayhem''===
Bludgeon and the rest of the Mayhem Attack Squad were drawn to a cavern on Earth by a Decepticon signal, finding upon their arrival that the extra-dimensional [[Ramjet (Universe)|Ramjet]] was the one broadcasting it. Though other members of his team were eager to simply off the stranger, Bludgeon allowed their new acquaintance to speak first. Ramjet was quick to comment on the dark energies he sensed within Bludgeon, who rebutted that if Ramjet was simply after his [[Matrix of Malice]], it would not be easily pried from his frame. Ramjet reassured him that he had no interest in the artifact, and instead made a quick demonstration of his power to convince the Squad that he would make a valuable ally. Impressed by Ramjet's eldritch energies, Bludgeon and his team agreed to join forces with him, and together they begun to plot the destruction of the universe. {{storylink|History}}

==Games==
===''Transformers Legends''===
[[File:TFLegends-Bludgeon.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Surely everyone waited for ''official'' permission to [[repurposing|repurpose]] this design, right?]]
Early in the war, Bludgeon was to meet with the Autobots Orion Pax, Alpha Trion, and Nightbeat to perform a prisoner exchange for the safe return of Rack'n'Ruin. This turned out to be a Decepticon ploy, however, and the Decepticons ambushed the group, capturing Alpha Trion in the process. {{storylink|Orion's Gambit}} Bludgeon and [[Darkwing (G1)|Darkwing]] attempted to revive [[Thunderwing (G1)|Thunderwing]], but when Thunderwing proved uncontrollable, the pair had to cooperate with the Wreckers to defeat him. {{storylink|Stormbringer (Legends)|Stormbringer}}

Bludgeon was later part of Thunderwing's squad of Decepticons. They attacked a [[Sun-Farming facility]] run by [[Sideswipe (G1)|Sideswipe]], only to discover that the Autobots were more formidable than they had counted on. Bludgeon headed for the main building, fending off [[Fastlane]] and cleaving guards with his [[Energo weapon|Energo-Sword]], until he was able to secure the [[Energon]] stored inside. The Autobots subsequently retreated. {{storylink|Revelation (Legends)|Revalation}} Bludgeon was among a group of Decepticons who joined a time-displaced [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]] in attacking the fused-together [[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]] and [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]], but were fought off by some Autobots. {{storylink|Savage Circle}}
{{--}}

===''Transformers: Earth Wars''===
[[File:BludgeonEarthWars.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.75| [[Starscream (G1)|Who]] said I was a "Disturbing sword guy?"]]Mysterious, stealthy and deadly, Bludgeon is a master of the ancient Cybertronian martial art of Metallikato, a combat style that borders on the mystical.

The consummate assassin, Bludgeon locks on to his victim like a silent guided missile, and won't stop or deviate until he's claimed his scalp.
A master swordsman, Bludgeon hides his true robot self behind an outer shell designed to strike icy dread into his victims.{{storylink|Transformers: Earth Wars|Bludgeon character bio}}

Bludgeon was brought through the Space Bridge by Starscream, and he had a transmission for Starscream from Megatron: Get Megatron to Earth, or be stuck on the dreary mudball for eternity. Seeing as Starscream didnt want to be abandoned with Bludgeon and Autobots, he and Bludgeon got a crystal powerful enough to get Megatron through. {{storylink|Transformers: Earth Wars|Get Megatron! Campaign}}

Bludgeon recieved orders from Megatron to spy on and observe Starscream. Starscream headed to the Space Bridge and brought out [[Hook (G1) | Hook]] and Scrapper. Bludgeon followed the trio to an Autobot outpost, where Bludgeon stopped them from getting another piece of the [[Fractal Map]] to make sure Starscream didn't get any credit and would be humiliated by Megatron. Which Starscream was. {{storylink|Transformers: Earth Wars| Power Play Campaign}}

Bludgeon helps out in the final battle for the Codex Key, helping to destroy the opposing Autobot outpost to the ground. {{storylink|Transformers: Earth Wars|The Codex Showdown Campaign}}

He then witnesses the creation of Devastator.
{{storylink|Transformers: Earth Wars|Combiner Wars Campaign}}

Bludgeon heard of Cyclonus's movement and scouting in the Frozen wastes of the Arctic.
Bludgeon was oddly missing from the battle for the Frozen Fortress, even though prior to, Megatron orders him to rally the troops to attack. Maybe he was assigned baby sitting duty of the outpost to ensure Autobots didn't randomly attack. {{storylink| Transformers: Earth Wars| Arctic Saga}}

*'''Class:''' Warrior
*'''Lowest Star Rating:''' 1 star
*'''Weapons''' - He targets a building with his gun, then engages and slices it with his sword.
*'''Ability: Rush in'''- Rush into combat smashing walls along the way and dealing damage to the target.
**'''Cost:''' 3 ability points +2 for reuses.

[http://wiki.transformersearthwars.com/character:bludgeon| Bludgeon at Transformers: Earth Wars Wiki]

===''Transformers Online'' (2016 video game)===
Even Bludgeon was impressed by [[Brawn (G1)|Brawn]]'s mastery of warfare in contests of strength. {{storylink|Transformers Online (2016 video game)|Transformers Online}} <ref>[http://tfol.qq.com/act/a20160726data/hero15.shtml Brawn on the Transformers Online website]</ref>

===''Transformers: Forged to Fight''===
Bludgeon was one of the Decepticons pulled from [[The Transformers (franchise)|his universe]] by the [[Quintessons]] and forced to fight. He eventually joins the [[You|Commander]]. There are at least a few of him running around! {{storylink|Transformers: Forged to Fight}}
{{-}}

==Toys==
===Generation 1===
[[File:G1Bludgeon toy.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|He's an electric warrior. He is not, however, a Jeepster for your love.]]
*'''Bludgeon''' (Pretender, [[1989]])
:*''Accessories'': Pretender shell, large "Laser Rifle" gun, tank turret/shield, small "[[high-voltage electric cannon|electric cannon]]", helmet

:Bludgeon's inner robot transforms into a green and lilac tank of undetermined origin. Oddly, compared to most ''Transformers'' tanks, he has no wheels inside the static tank tracks for any sort of rolling movement; however, as the treads are arranged in two pairs, he is also one of the very few tank Transformers whose treads do not split apart during transformation. Transformation to [[robot mode]] is very similar to many tank-vehicle Micromaster figures, except one must remove the rotating turret piece to do so, with the removable main gun as his weapon, mounted in a hole in his wrist (rather than his hand).

:Bludgeon's Pretender shell, continuing the Decepticon trend of monstrous or war-like shells, is an orange and maroon humanoid samurai with a human skull for a head. Removing the helmet reveals great attention to detail to the skull, with cranium fusion seams and well-defined teeth, among other sculpting. The shell is armed with a white rifle and the inner robot's tank turret mounted on his arm as a sort of shield.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1989/Decepticon/Bludgeon/bludgeon.htm More info on Bludgeon at TFU.info]''
{{-}}

===Revenge of the Fallen===
[[File:ROTFtoy-BludgeonVoyager.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|"Behold, I am Yoshimitsu the Second!"]]
*'''Decepticon Bludgeon''' (Voyager, [[2009]])
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''RD-20'''
**''Accessories:'' [[Wikipedia:Katana|katana]], [[Wikipedia:Tantō|tantō]]

{{note|''[[Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (toyline)|Revenge of the Fallen]]'' [[Bludgeon (ROTF)|Bludgeon]] was officially [[repurposing|repurposed]] as Generation 1 Bludgeon via the ''[[Transformers Legends (mobile game)|Transformers Legends]]'' game (albeit with an [[#IDW Generation 1 continuity|IDW-based]] head) and ''[[Transformers: Earth Wars]]''.}}
:[[Bludgeon (ROTF)|Bludgeon]] transforms from a green and orange Japanese [[Wikipedia:Type 90 Kyū-maru|Type 90]] tank into a skeletal samurai robot mode which homages his original [[Pretender]] shell, in colors that homage both the shell and the original inner robot. Bludgeon features a flexible plastic sword which is made out of a portion of the barrel of the tank's main gun as well as a smaller dagger. The dagger can be stored in a sheath which is revealed from inside the tank turret, and both blades can be slotted in holes provided on the robot mode's left hip guard. Additionally, the dagger's handle can fit in the base of the sword's handle, forming a double-bladed weapon. He has [[Mech Alive]] [[gimmick]]s in his thighs and turret: Sculpted cylinders in his thighs rotate whenever his lower legs are rotated, and that pulling his turret open makes a gray sculpted "disc" at the center rotate while a scabbard for the tantō hinges over to the side and props itself up for use.

:The [[alternate mode|vehicle mode]] is one of the very few Transformer tank toys with rubber components to its treads. Portions of the tread links can unlock, allowing them to hang from the robot mode, while the wheels of the treads are integrated separately into the robot mode form itself. The treads still do not function realistically; small plastic wheels on the underside of the treads help the tank mode roll, as is standard with nearly all Transformer tank toys.

[[File:ROTFBludgeon japanese instructions.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.66]]
:There is a paint application error on Bludgeon's rear wheels/thighs, wherein the black [[paint operation]]s, which were meant to help blend his rear wheels in with the black center wheels, are placed on the ''wrong side'', keeping them out of sight in vehicle mode, and behind his thighs in robot mode. The ratcheting hip joint is also flipped 180 degrees from what it should be, with two further ratchet divots on top of the hip than inside of it, meaning the mechanism in the upper leg is trying to click into a smooth surface. The toy seems to have been originally designed to feature light-piping in the head, though this feature is rendered useless with it being cast in the same solid gray plastic used for his arms, weapons, shoulders and Mech Alive features.

:The Japanese [[TakaraTomy]] release of Bludgeon has a different [[instructions|instruction sheet]] that actually labels the weapons as a {{w|katana}} and {{w|tantō}}, whereas the Hasbro release doesn't label them at all.

:This mold was [[redeco]]ed into ''[[Transformers (2010 toyline)|Transformers]]'' [[Banzaitron (TF 2010)|Banzaitron]], and [[retool]]ed into [[BotCon 2012]] [[Overlord (Masterforce)#Timelines|Gigatron]] and ''[[Transformers: Generations|Generations]]'' [[Megatron (G1)/toys#Generations|Megatron]].

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2010/Decepticon/Bludgeon/bludgeon.htm More information on ''Voyager''-class Bludgeon at TFU.info]''
{{-}}
===Kre-O===
[[File:KreO-Toy BludgeonKreon.jpg|right|thumb|300px|It's not the [[Bludgeon (RID 2001)|first time]] he's had Megatron's head.]]
* '''Decepticon Bludgeon''' (Micro-Changer, 2012)
**''Bag number'': '''22851 51'''
**''Accessories'': Stand brick, sword

: Part of the first normal wave of [[Micro-Changer]] [[Kreon]]s, Bludgeon is a [[blindpacking|blindpacked]]-bagged mini-figure, though a stamped ID number can be found on the back of the bag, top-right corner. He comes with extra parts which turn him into a kinda-sorta-tank. He also comes with a 2x4 block stand with the Kre-O logo on the side.

: He uses [[Megatron (Kre-O)|Megatron]]'s helmet.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2013/Decepticon/Kre-OBludgeon/bludgeon.htm More information on Bludgeon at TFU.info]''

{{-}}{{Anchor|2016}}
* '''Bludgeon''' (Kreon Micro-Changer, 2016)
**''Collection'': '''1'''
**''Accessories'': Logo plate, sword

:In 2016, Collection 1 was re-released in a whole new production run for Dollar General stores in the US as part of a large collection of re-released ''Kre-O'' sets. But where most of these releases are nigh-identical to the originals, the re-released Micro-Changer blind-bags use the almost-entirely-retooled 2015 Kreon, with slightly-differently-hued plastics than the originals. (It is possible for some of the add-on pieces to be in the older hues.) Blugeon's torso [[tampograph]] has also been reworked to be slightly more detailed, and the formerly-bare legs now have extra detail tampographing on them.

:Sadly, this release has no individual-identification code on the bag, requiring you to use the feel-through-the-bag method or just buy blind and hope.
{{-}}

===G.I. Joe and the Transformers===
*'''''The Epic Conclusion!'' box set''' ([[2013]])
[[File:SDCC2013Bludgeon.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|"To a master of Metallikato, your kung-fu grip is slow-motion!"]]
:*''Accessories'': helmet, short sword, long sword, chest armor, cloak

:An [[exclusive]] release for [[San Diego Comic-Con]] 2013, this is a 3.75" figure depicting Bludgeon in his Pretender shell. It is a [[retool]] of the ''G.I. Joe Retaliation'' Budo action figure, sporting a new head representing Bludgeon's skeletal visage. The set also comes with a G.I. Joe [[VAMP]] redecoed into [[Hound (G1)|Hound]], a retooled [[Skystriker (vehicle)|Skystriker]] representing [[Jetfire (G1)|Jetfire]], a new [[Snake-Eyes]] figure bearing an Autobot symbol, a [[Baroness]] figure with [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] on a leash, and a [[Blaster (G1)|Blaster]] boombox with cassette pieces representing [[Steeljaw (G1)|Steeljaw]], [[Ramhorn (G1)|Ramhorn]], and [[Eject (G1)|Eject]]. Both of Bludgeon's swords feature the same detailing on the front of the blade as Bludgeon's original character model did.

:The box set was announced via a ''USA Today'' [http://www.usatoday.com/picture-gallery/life/2013/06/05/hasbro-2013-comic-con-exclusives/2392295/ article] on June 5, 2013, along with Hasbro's other Comic-Con exclusives.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2013/Decepticon/SDCCBludgeon/bludgeon.htm More information on ''G.I. Joe and the Transformers'' Bludgeon at TFU.info]''
{{-}}

===Combiner Wars===
[[File:CombinerWarstoy-Bludgeon.jpg|right|thumb|300px|The samurai skeleton look was going out of fashion.]]
*'''Bludgeon''' (2016)
::''Accessories:'' Twin "high-voltage" cannons, two "cyber-blade" swords.

:Part of the [[Transformers Figure Subscription Service#Series 4.0 (2016)|Figure Subscription Service 4.0]], Bludgeon is a [[retool]] of [[Onslaught (G1)#CombinerWars|Onslaught]] from the ''[[Transformers: Generations#Combiner Wars|Combiner Wars]]'' subline of ''Generations'' with a new robot head, a new combiner head, and two additional swords from [[Optimus Prime (WFC)/toys#Exprime|''Go!'' Optimus Exprime]]. Being a ''Combiner Wars'' Voyager, he can combine with any four of that line's Deluxes, though he is meant to combine with his fellow [[Mayhem Attack Squad]] to form [[Thunder Mayhem]]. Like the other ''Combiner Wars'' Voyager Class toys, Bludgeon's head and torso kibble is incorporated into the toy itself, rather than being add-on parts. Bludgeon's two rifles combine into a longer rifle for the combined robot.

:Unfortunately, Bludgeon features misassembled knee struts, but his feet can flip out to provide better support.

:Bludgeon's mold was originally retooled from [[Hot Spot (G1)#CombinerWars|Hot Spot]], who was retooled differently as [[Pyra Magna]].
{{CWHotSpotMold}}
{{-}}

==Notes==
*Like [[Stranglehold]] and [[Octopunch (G1)|Octopunch]], Bludgeon's [[character model]] portrays him with a specialized melee weapon. Bludgeon is consistently drawn with the character model's sword, which has become a trademark, despite his toy lacking one. The character model also seems to include a scabbard for the sword, though that is not included nearly as often. Why all three of these characters are given weapons that don't exist is unknown.
*The only time we see his character model is when it's copied faithfully by [[José Delbo]] in "[[Yesterday's Heroes!]]". (However, [[Robin Smith]] takes another crack at it in [[Fleetway]]'s ''[[Transformers: Generation 2 (Fleetway)|Generation 2]]'' series, but a tiny few liberties were taken, style-wise.)
*The sword in his character model has unique detailing at the base of the front of the blade. In Delbo's rendition, it looks kind of like a dong. Elsewhere, not so much. Thankfully.
*Bludgeon's outer shell is a "Warrior-Grade Pretender Shell" equipped with an ambient stealth field.<ref>''[[Transformers: The Ultimate Guide]]'', by [[Simon Furman]]</ref>
*Bludgeon came close to having a new toy on two separate occasions. The first was a planned 6" Titaniums toy, supposedly based on his ''War Within'' design.<ref>[http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/titanium-13/cancelled-titanium-bludgeon-revealed-in-tfw2005-toy-database-164105/ Cancelled Titanium Bludgeon Revealed in TFW2005 Toy Database]</ref> Artist [[Don Figueroa]] then submitted a concept for a [[Unicron Trilogy]] Bludgeon toy way back during the development of the ''[[Transformers: Energon (toyline)|Energon]]'' or ''[[Transformers: Cybertron (toyline)|Cybertron]]'' toylines. Obviously, the concept wasn't put into production as a toy at the time, so Figueroa used it as inspiration for his [[IDW Publishing]] ''[[The Transformers: Stormbringer|Stormbringer]]'' [[Bludgeon (G1)#IDW Generation 1 continuity|rendition of Generation 1 Bludgeon]]. Hasbro considered releasing Bludgeon in the ''[[Transformers: Universe (2008 franchise)|Universe]]'' line, but put it on hold because of the large number of tank and tank-like vehicles released recently.<ref>[[Bill Rawley]] in an interview for the Transformers Collector's Club magazine: ''"One that comes to mind right away is Bludgeon. We even started early design sketches for him but the fact that he would transform into a tank, in a line that had a lot of tank-like vehicles in it, meant that he would have to be put on hold... for now."''</ref> This design was evidently [[Bludgeon (ROTF)|resurrected]] for the ''[[Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (toyline)|Revenge of the Fallen]]'' line. Figueroa notes that his contribution on this toy is very small, as his work on it ended when he submitted the concept to Hasbro way back when.

===Foreign names===
*''Japanese:'' '''Bludgeon''' (ブラジオン ''Burajion'')
*''French:'' '''Gourdin''' (Canada, "Club", as in the beat-you-up-with kind)
*''Hungarian:'' '''Husáng''' ("Stick", as in the beat-you-up-with kind)
*''Italian:'' '''Teskior'''

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Armada Decepticons]]
[[Category:Combiner Wars]]
[[Category:Decepticon leaders]]
[[Category:Dimension hoppers]]
[[Category:Generation 1 Decepticons]]
[[Category:Generation 2 Decepticons]]
[[Category:IDW Generation 1 Decepticons]]
[[Category:Martial artists]]
[[Category:Mayhem Attack Squad]]
[[Category:Pretenders]]
[[Category:Regeneration One Decepticons]]
[[Category:Repurposed toys]]
[[Category:Super-God Masterforce Decepticons]]
[[Category:Unicron-related characters]]

Tarantulas (BW)

2017-04-26T00:28:22Z

7Crimsonified7: /* Beast Wars cartoon */

{{factions|predacon|unicron|decepticon}}
{{disambig3|Tarantulas}}
{{featured}}
:''Tarantulas is a [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] from the [[Beast Wars: Transformers (franchise)|Beast Wars]] portion of the [[Generation 1 continuity family|Generation 1]] [[continuity family]].''

[[File:Tarantulasbw.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|[[BotCon 2000|"And fries! Lots of FRIES!"]]]]
'''Tarantulas''' is the scheming mad scientist of the Predacon crew. He's the type of mad scientist who experiments on living beings, cackling in his [[trademark]]ed laugh all the while, and then if things go wrong, happily eats what's left as his midday snack. The eating is what he was really looking forward to, anyway. It's this focused perversity that turns off even his fellow Predacons. Tarantulas's emotional detachment from their war also rubs his peers the wrong way. Fighting Maximals and following orders is just a required chore; his real passion is the unmentionable projects stashed in [[Tarantulas's lair|his "secret" lair]].

Nominally, Tarantulas was one of the Predacons to join [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] during his theft of the [[Golden Disk (Voyager)|Golden Disk]] and the search for [[Earth]]. In addition to being an utterly psychotic, sadistic sociopath, he has a record for treachery rivaled by few other Transformers. He is actually an [[Predacon Secret Police|agent]] of the [[Tripredacus Council]], which is trying to coax the Beast Wars toward an unspecified goal, where neither Autobot or Decepticon won the [[Great War (G1)|Great War]]. Who knows what other [[Unicron|dark secrets]] lie in his past.

If anything upsets Tarantulas, other than losing a potential meal, it's those pompous aliens who call themselves the [[Vok]]. He harbors a hatred for them strong enough to make him work to eliminate them by any means.

In some universes he can combine with the Tripredacus Council and [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] to form [[Predacus]].

Sometimes he is previously known as '''Mesothulas''' and sometimes his name is spelled as '''Tarantulus'''.

{{bigquote|You're ''insane.''|[[Tigerhawk]]}}
{{bigquote|So they ''saa''-aay! Wbrrwbrrbbppth!|Tarantulas|"[[Other Victories]]"}}

==Fiction==
===Toy bios===
[[File:PrimalVSMegs-Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Why Megatron, I do believe you're trying to seduce m— oh, hey, [[Razorbeast]].]]
Tarantulas was a sneaky, mysterious ninja feared across the galaxy. A master of the martial arts, he was suspected in the disappearances of many [[Human|Earthlings]], and rumors swirled of giant cocoons where he stored his prey. {{storylink|#Toys|Tarantulas bio}}

Tarantulas was guarding the Predacons' jungle-based genetics lab along with Megatron and Waspinator. When the Maximals discovered them, he engaged [[Razorbeast]] in combat briefly before Megatron called retreat and destroyed the lab. {{storylink|Optimus Primal vs Megatron!}}

After the [[quantum surge]], Tarantulas became a [[Transmetal]], with the accompanying vehicle mode to match. With his new set of wheels, Tarantulas didn't have to rely on stealth and deceit as much, instead speeding head-first into battle and using his new mechanical beast mode to overpower his enemies. {{storylink|#Transmetal|Transmetal Tarantulas bio}}
{{-}}

===Cartoon continuity===
====''Beast Wars'' cartoon====
{{voiceactor|[[Alec Willows]] (English), [[Scott McNeil]] (English, portions of "[[Other Voices, Part 2]]" only), [[Yūichi Nagashima]] (Japanese)|[[Alexandr Novikov]] (Russian, 1st dub), [[Hervé Joly]] (French), [[Lutz Harder]] (German), [[Riccardo Peroni]] (Italian), [[Junseok Song]] (Korean), [[Humberto Vélez]] (Latin American Spanish), [[Fábio Vilalonga]] (Portuguese)}}

Lieutenant Tarantulas of the [[Predacon Secret Police]] was one of [[Megatron (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Megatron]]'s original crew, a mole inside his organization feeding information back to the [[Tripredacus Council]] without his knowledge. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part 2)}} More than that, he was a ''direct'' agent of the Council and shared their origins, with an overall agenda to alter the timeline by going back to prehistoric Earth and completely destroying the [[Ark (G1)|''Ark'' and the Transformers within]]. {{storylink|Other Victories}} The plan went tits up though, as Megatron's ''Darksyde'' warship ended up crashing on an unidentified planet and contact with Cybertron was lost.{{storylink|Beast Wars (Part 1)}} Tarantulas carried on as normal despite this setback. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part 2)}}

[[File:TheWeb Tarantulas beast mode.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|Not arachnophobic, eh? I can fix that.]]
As Megatron's technical leader, he manned the scanners to appropriate beast forms based on the most powerful local creatures, choosing the form of an over-sized spider for himself. He cheerfully took part in the first battle of the [[Beast Wars (event)|Beast Wars]], only to succumb to energon buildup while the Maximals were escaping. {{storylink|Beast Wars (Part 1)}} The Predacons uncovered a stash of energon crystals atop a mountain, but were forced to fight in their [[beast mode]]s. Tarantulas and [[Rattrap (BW)|Rattrap]] fought in this manner until Megatron triggered a chain reaction which caused the energon to explode. {{storylink|Beast Wars (Part 2)}}

[[File:ChainofCommand Tarantulas firing.jpg|thumb|upright=1.34|Sure, he's fast on the draw, but he ALWAYS shoots himself in the foot.]]
It wasn't long before Tarantulas had set up his own [[Tarantulas's lair|underground lair]] to keep his experiments away from Megatron's prying eyes. After helping [[Scorponok (BW)|Scorponok]] recover a mega-cannon, Tarantulas managed to capture [[Cheetor (BW)|Cheetor]], trapping the young Maximal in a web in his lair with the intent of feeding later. Rattrap mounted a rescue, during which the cavern caved in on Tarantulas {{storylink|The Web}} Tarantulas was blasted by Rattrap during the battle at the [[Standing Stones]], and later accompanied Megatron and [[Terrorsaur (BW)|Terrorsaur]] to attack the ''Axalon'' after it appeared that [[Optimus Primal/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Optimus Primal]] had perished. After the Maximals got the ship's shields back up, he suggested to Megatron that they return to the Standing Stones. Unfortunately once there, the Maximals managed to retrieve Primal from the [[Vok probe|alien probe]] at the site, and Tarantulas was one of the first victims of the restored Maximal commander. {{storylink|Chain of Command (BW)|Chain of Command}}

Terrorsaur, his power boosted, defeated Megatron in combat before leaving Tarantulas in charge of the other Predacons. Tarantulas promptly tailed Terrorsaur to find out what his new power source was, and discovered it was a [[flying mountain]] topped with a cache of super energon. Before he could do anything with the knowledge, he encountered Rattrap, who'd come to destroy the mountain. Their fight ended with Tarantulas falling from the side of the mountain. {{storylink|Power Surge (episode)|Power Surge}} He subsequently took part in an attack on the Maximal base after a [[stasis pod]] crashed. While Megatron kept [[Dinobot (BW)|Dinobot]] distracted, Tarantulas and Scorponok ambushed the Maximal from behind. Unfortunately for them, Dinobot had time to activate the base defenses, and Tarantulas was blasted into the distance by the auto-guns. {{storylink|Fallen Comrades}}

When the Predacons finally captured a stasis pod, Tarantulas made sure that the [[protoform]] was given a spider beast mode, creating [[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]]. Megatron suspected he had ulterior motives, but was nonetheless pleased by the new soldier. Tarantulas seemed happy to follow Terrorsaur when the Predacon mounted another takeover attempt with the aid of Rattrap, but spent most of his time skulking around the ''Darksyde'' in search of rats to eat. He spotted Rattrap sneaking around, but the Maximal blasted him before he could do anything. He subsequently limped back to the others to find that Megatron had reasserted his leadership. {{storylink|Double Jeopardy}} After one of Scorponok's viruses turned Primal into a berserker, the Maximal leader broke into the Predacon base and, completely ignoring Tarantulas's attempts to stop him, pinned the spider to a wall using Tarantulas's own weapon. {{storylink|Gorilla Warfare}}

[[File:Tflocklens&tarantulas.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1|"Behold my latest invention... THE DISCO BALL VERSION 2.0!"]]
One of Tarantulas's many inventions, the [[transformation lock lens]], was instrumental in preventing the Maximals from contacting a [[temporal probe]] doing a flyby of the planet. He used it to ensnare [[Tigatron]] and Cheetor, then wreaked havoc with the Maximals' attempts to build a communications array, before he was finally defeated by Primal. Although his new toy was destroyed by the recovered Cheetor and Tigatron, the damage was already done, and the probe flew by uncontacted. {{storylink|The Probe}} After the Predacons discovered a Maximal spy camera in their base, they faked a mutiny and hid in a crevice. Tarantulas spent his nights being hugged like a stuffed toy by [[Waspinator (BW)|Waspinator]], and his days eating stray rats. While the Maximals repaired the ''Axalon'', the Predacons were discovered by Dinobot, and gave chase. Though they attacked the Maximal ship in an attempt to capture it, the affair ended with the ''Axalon'' crashing back to the ground. {{storylink|Victory (episode)|Victory}} After a Maximal victory, largely due to the efforts of Rhinox, Tarantulas captured the rhino in a web on Megatron's orders, so that he could be converted into a Predacon by the [[Transmuter (BW)|Transmuter]]. In return, the new Predacon poisoned him and Blackarachnia. {{storylink|Dark Designs}}

[[File:Spider'sGame Taratulas hauling stasis pod.jpg|thumb|upright=1.45|Ever the engineer, Tarantulas invents the low-tech equivalent of a tow truck.]]
Tarantulas detected another stasis pod landing in [[Grid Scavos]], but Megatron refused to let him go and assist in the recovery, much to his disgust. {{storylink|The Spark}} The next time a stasis pod crashed, Tarantulas was more prepared. From his lair, he used a [[magna pulse]] to disable both the ''Darksyde'' and ''Axalon'' to allow him to investigate without interference. Unfortunately for him, Blackarachnia had found his lair, and insisted on coming along to help. At the pod, Tarantulas reprogrammed the new arrival into a Predacon, but was disappointed that a beast mode had already been chosen, and [[Inferno (BW)|Inferno]] would not be another spider. In the confusion that followed, he made off with the real prize — the stasis pod itself. Unfortunately for him, Tigatron destroyed the pod before he could get very far, and he was forced to retreat when Megatron arrived. Later, in his lair, he inadvertently told Blackarachnia that the planet was doomed, and she realized he was intending to build an escape ship, however he threw her out before she could work out any more of his plans. {{storylink|Spider's Game}}

Tarantulas took part in a diversionary attack while Waspinator and Terrorsaur stole the Maximals' [[rectifier coil]]. After the Maximals went feral, the Predacons mounted a hunting expedition, though Tarantulas was stuck supporting the back end of Megatron's chair. {{storylink|Call of the Wild}} On another occasion, Tarantulas detected what appeared to be walking energon. Megatron realized that an earlier battle had left four of the Maximals contaminated and blinded, and ordered Tarantulas to send Terrorsaur to investigate. {{storylink|Dark Voyage}} After Waspinator was possessed by the ghost of [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]], Tarantulas took part in the attack on the ''Axalon'', and pointed out once they'd conquered it that their own base was now undefended. Megatron's answer was to leave Starscream in charge of the ''Axalon'', a decision which would come back to bite him later. {{storylink|Possession}}

[[File:Dinobottarantulasrattrapthelowroad.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.34|"See? I told you I was taller than Tarantulas."]]
During an attack on the Maximal base, Tarantulas was able to infect Rhinox with an [[energon discharge virus]], though he himself was injured by Dinobot during the retreat. He was tracked by Dinobot and Rattrap, but eventually turned the tables by getting the drop on them, only to be flattened by a huge boulder. After recovering, he took advantage of their incessant arguing by trying to get the drop on them again, only to be knocked unconscious by a double punch. Finally, Dinobot attempted to use Tarantulas's body as a hostage, only for Megatron to blast it aside. Perhaps his only consolation was that he avoided the indignity of the fate that befell the rest of the Predacons. {{storylink|The Low Road}}

With the return of the [[Vok|aliens]] a certainty, Tarantulas stole a [[transwarp cell]] from the ''Darksyde'', slagging Waspinator in the process. Megatron detected the theft and used Blackarachnia as a distraction while he remotely inserted his own programming into the cell. The two spiders later took part in an attempt to prevent Tigatron from escaping the Predacon base, and were squished by a boulder Dinobot had set up. They were relatively uninjured and able to haul their damaged comrades back to the ship. {{storylink|Before the Storm}} The two spiders teamed up again, infiltrating the Maximal base and disabling Rhinox and Dinobot while the other Maximals were busy with the latest alien construct to appear. They became aware that the planet's second moon had just been revealed as an artificial, alien ''doomsday weapon'' in disguise, with Tarantulas remarking it was "the beginning of the end" for the planet. {{storylink|Other Voices, Part 1}} In the cargo hold, Tarantulas used the transwarp cell and a stasis pod to construct a ship, but was interrupted by Inferno, who torched the spider. Fortunately, Blackarachnia entered Tarantulas's mind to obtain the information to complete the escape ship, and he was able to set up a permanent neural link between the two Predacons. {{storylink|Other Voices, Part 2}}

[[File:ComingFuzors1 Tarantulas lives.jpg|thumb|upright=1.55|A new look, and he didn't even have to [[Spider-Man|sell out]] to [[Iron Man|Tony Stark]] for it!]]
When the [[quantum surge]] caused by the "second moon's" destruction knocked out all of the Transformers on the planet, Tarantulas's body was upgraded to a [[Transmetal]] form, and he forced Blackarachnia to drag it from the Maximal base, even getting her to ignore Megatron's command to stay and fight the Maximals. {{storylink|Aftermath}} With Blackarachnia's hard work and some serious-looking electrical arc generators, Tarantulas was restored to life. Megatron soon called him to the battlefield, so he left Blackarachnia to root around in their leader's computer files: by this point, the loss of the "moon" and the damages to the planet had revealed it to be ''prehistoric Earth'' all along... {{storylink|Coming of the Fuzors (Part 1)}}

Using his new cycle mode, Tarantulas quickly reached the Maximals' position. During the fight, he kept in contact with her, until a shot by Dinobot put him temporarily out of commission. After he came around, Blackarachnia reported that she'd failed to get the data he needed. The Predacons were soon routed by the resurrection of Optimus Primal, and forced to return to base. There, Megatron and Tarantulas questioned Blackarachnia, only to be told the vital data had been lost. Neither of them believed her, but didn't call her out. {{storylink|Coming of the Fuzors (Part 2)}}

With his old lair destroyed by the Planet Buster, Tarantulas was fortuitous in that Megatron assigned him with Blackarachnia and [[Quickstrike (BW)|Quickstrike]] to check out a cave filled with energon. He quickly surmised that it would make an excellent new lair, and attempted to get his two comrades interested in going it alone. Blackarachnia was more interested in getting rid of the neural link the two of them shared, and cracked an energon crystal, sending feedback through the link, to force him to sever it. By a fortunate coincidence, the three Predacons were soon attacked by [[Silverbolt (BW)|Silverbolt]] and Rattrap, and during the battle Tarantulas was able to convincingly fake the destruction of the cave, allowing him to utilize it as his own lair. {{storylink|Tangled Web}} When Dinobot defected to the Predacon side, Tarantulas offered to verify his programming, but Megatron decided it wouldn't be a very good idea to let Tarantulas into Dinobot's processor. {{storylink|Maximal, No More}}

[[File:OtherVisits1 Tarantulas beast mode.jpg|left|upright=1.2|thumb|Downside: everything tastes like feet now.]]
Back in his lair, Tarantulas's instruments detected the aliens again, and he rushed off to the site. He arrived shortly after Tigatron and [[Airazor (BW)|Airazor]] had been abducted, and zapped Cheetor, but was forced to retreat when more Maximals arrived. He visited Megatron, claiming to no longer be under the tyrant's command, but willing to help. The Predacons returned to the alien site to set up equipment, during which Blackarachnia revealed that she had learned through the broken neural link that Tarantulas hated the aliens. {{storylink|Other Visits (Part 1)}} Megatron, Quickstrike, and Tarantulas recovered quickly from the energy wave put out by the new [[Metal Hunter|alien construct]], and after Tarantulas's [[refractive web]] was activated, the trio ventured inside. Once Megatron had control of the construct, he terminated his alliance with Tarantulas, dropping the Predacon from a great height. Infuriated, Tarantulas helped the Maximals attack the construct, infiltrating it along with Rattrap, and sabotaging the transwarp cells which Megatron installed, causing the ship to explode. {{storylink|Other Visits (Part 2)}}

Though a bug planted on Megatron's chair, Tarantulas learned that Blackarachnia had been sent to recover a new protoform, and took the opportunity to threaten her to try and extract the information he suspected she'd gained from Megatron's computers. Unfortunately for him, Silverbolt stepped in and defended Blackarachnia, shortly before an energon explosion separated everyone. Though Tarantulas found the stasis pod, [[Rampage (BW)|its contents]] found him, and his body parts were spread liberally over a wide area. {{storylink|Bad Spark}} Dinobot later tracked down Tarantulas in an attempt to find out what Megatron's latest scheme was. Though Tarantulas didn't know, Dinobot forced him to act as transport, and they soon found Megatron preparing to torch a valley fill of [[Protohuman]]s. Tarantulas took advantage of Dinobot's distraction to shoot the Maximal, only for Dinobot to drop a boulder on him. {{storylink|Code of Hero}}

[[File:Agenda3 Tarantulas button push.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Tarantulas presses the History Eraser Button.]]
Alerted by the [[transwarp wavefront]], the Tripredacus Council sent covert agent [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] to capture Megatron. The former Decepticon led the Maximals to apprehend Megatron, and Tarantulas assisted by taking down the ''Darksyde''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> defense system. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part 1)}} Megatron, much to his indignation, was later informed by Ravage that the spider was a lieutenant in the Predacon Secret Police; Tarantulas joined in the diss by laughing over a comm-screen at his former boss. Tarantulas was able to instruct the Maximals in the location of a stash of energon crystals that Megatron had hidden. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part 2)}} When Ravage was persuaded to change sides by the Predacon leader, Tarantulas appeared to come too, manning the [[transwarp cruiser]]'s weapons systems for an attack on the ''Axalon''. Alas, Rattrap chewed his way into the ship and tossed a couple of [[Fusion weaponry#Fusion grenade|bomb]]s at Tarantulas, which stuck to his hands before exploding. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part III)}}

Tarantulas survived, though, and was quickly put back together by his [[arachnoid]]s. He was repaired in time to witness the destruction of the ''Axalon''. {{storylink|Optimal Situation}} He was soon seen back at the Predacon base, working under Megatron's command once again with no mention of his former secession. {{storylink|Cutting Edge}} However, around this time he was also working on another scheme: restoring the ''[[Nemesis (G1)|Nemesis]]'', the flagship of the [[Decepticon]] fleet! At some point, he'd found it lying at the bottom of the ocean, and was ensuring it would not only fly again but had a Predacon control console and a transwarp cell that could take it back to Cybertron... {{storylink|Nemesis Part 1}}

He battled the Maximals alongside Megatron's [[cyber raptor]]s, taking the opportunity to try out his new Transmetal [[cyber venom]] to great success, though he was stomped on by a cyber raptor once the Maximals worked out how to destroy their controls. {{storylink|Cutting Edge}} He assisted in the construction of Megatron's [[disruptor cannon]], suggesting that they abduct an early human to complete the device when the other Predacons were unable to get too close to it due to the unstable power source. While the cannon was completed by [[Una]], she managed to use her knowledge of levers to tip a piece of heavy equipment on him. Though he survived that, Una had taken the cannon's stablizer crystal, and it exploded in the Predacons' faces when they tried to use it. {{storylink|Go with the Flow}}

[[File:CrossingRubicon Tarantulas fires on Silverbolt.jpg|thumb|left|260px|Pew Pew!]]
When the Maximals attempted to remove Blackarachnia's shell program, he revealed to Megatron that he had included "certain safeguards" that guaranteed she would not survive, and joined the other Predacons in an attack on the Maximals that was meant to disrupt the attempted shell removal. He fired the missile which knocked the Maximals' power off-line at a crucial instant, seemingly bringing an end to his "treacherous creation". Enraged by the death of his beloved, [[Silverbolt (BW)|Silverbolt]] attempted to kill the scientist, but was thwarted by [[Rampage (BW)|Rampage]], who was later defeated by a revived—and [[Transmetal]]ized—Blackarachnia. {{storylink|Crossing the Rubicon}}

Tarantulas participated in the Predacons' next attempt to retake the [[Ark (G1)|Ark]], utilising his latest invention to allow Quickstrike to take control of Optimus Primal... and ''that'' was when he made his move, at last. He manipulated [[Quickstrike (BW)|Quickstrike]] into throwing Megatron into the nearby lava while he himself set the Ark's engines to overload. Megatron survived his lava-dunking, gaining a new body in the process. However, he had lost his patience. While he'd tolerated Tarantulas's treachery, he could not tolerate incompetence. Tarantulas survived his punishment and fled back to his lair. {{storylink|Master Blaster}} This appears to have ''not'' been what Quickstrike thought he was going to do, and neither he nor Megatron had any idea why he'd planned to destroy the whole Ark.

[[File:TarantulasVok SignOfTheCross.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|"Save me, X-Men!"]]
Tarantulas was left ranting in his lair about how the Tripredacus Council's plans were wrecked, while his systems monitored the ''Nemesis'' (which was finished by this point). However, his rant and Nemesis plans were interrupted when the aliens—now revealed to be called the [[Vok]]—sent their emissary [[Tigerhawk]] arrived on Earth. Tarantulas let him take out the Predacons, then used his arachnoids to disable and capture him. Tarantulas intended to force the all-powerful being into his servitude by drawing the Vok influences out of his body and reprogramming him, and then have him obliterate the Ark: he cheerfully told the emissary that as he nor the Council had Autobot or Decepticon origins, they'd survive the resulting timestorm, turn Cybertron into a universe-conquering force, and one day even conquer the Vok themselves!

The scheme backfired, however, as his energy beam device expelled two ''actual Vok'' out of Tigerhawk. The formless spectres attempted to take over Tarantulas' body. Panicking, he made a religious sign to ward them off and then opened fire on them—a futile gesture that merely served to spin the energy device around 'til its rays were blasting him and his lab equipment. Overloaded by the beams, Tarantulas exploded, leaving nothing behind but his boots. The remainder of his equipment detonated seconds later, blowing the lair to rubble. Cheetor managed to rescue the inert Tigerhawk, and Tarantulas was presumed destroyed. {{storylink|Other Victories}}

Megatron knew that Tarantulas must have had some schemes on the go that the Predacons could pick up and use, and had his men search the ruins of the spider's lair. During this, he offhandedly referred to him as "[[Unicron's Spawn]]". He ended up discovering and using the working ''Nemesis''. {{storylink|Nemesis Part 1}}
{{-}}

====Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity====
=====Yokohama Decepticon Secret Base=====
[[File:Yokohama Unicron Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|100px]]
As part of a plot to destroy the [[2014]] [[Transformers Expo]] in [[Yokohama]] and the Cybertronian artifacts within, Taratulas, working on [[Unicron]]'s behalf, secretly granted [[Predacon computer|NAVI-ko]] a new body and intelligence regarding [[Yokohama Convoy|Nemesis Prime]]. True to plan, NAVI-ko was sent to activate the clone and guide him to the Transformers Expo. However, thanks to Nemesis Prime's inherent sense of justice, the plan failed. {{storylink|Yokohama Decepticon Secret Base}}

=====''Cloud''=====
{{charstubfiction|{{storylink|Wild (Cloud)|Wild}} {{storylink|TFC-A03}}}}

=====''Beast Wars Diorama Story''=====
[[File:BWDiorama Motorarm Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|left|A ravenous, sinister fiend... and Tarantulas.]]
Sometime after Starscream's arrival to prehistoric Earth, Tarantulas was confronted in battle by a time-displaced [[Motorarm (BWII)|Motorarm]], who fended off the Predacon with his Beetle Claw attack. Tarantulas was not present when the Autobots from [[Movie (franchise)|another universe]] and Maximals combined all of their energies to attack a team of Predacons and Decepticons. {{storylink|Motorarm Chapter}}
{{-}}

====3H comics====
Tarantulas was the inventor of the [[mind-drill]]. [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] "borrowed" it from him to get information out of [[Antagony (BW)|Antagony]]. {{storylink|Herald, Covenant, Schism, Paradox|Herald}}

[[File:Primevaldawn2 tarantulas matrix.jpg|thumb|Further proving the maxim: "If you want to steal the Matrix, you basically can."]]
Following the Beast Wars, Tarantulas's body returned to life, reanimated by the Vok powers he'd previously absorbed. The undead Tarantulas, along with a rebuilt Ravage (as [[Ravage (G1)|Tripredacus Agent]]), nurtured new troops to life through enigmatic means, growing [[Razorclaw (BW)|Razorclaw]] and [[Iguanus (BW)|Iguanus]] in tubes. {{storylink|Primeval Dawn Part 1}} {{storylink|Primeval Dawn II}}

The remaining Vok anticipated Tarantulas's plan to destroy the rest of them, take their power, and fashion the timestream to his desires, and so they assembled an army of their own consisting of [[Primal Prime]], [[Airazor (BW)|Airazor]], and [[Tigatron]]. Tarantulas met this opposition in battle, overwhelmed them, and triumphantly ripped the [[Matrix of Leadership]] from Primal Prime's chest. {{storylink|Primeval Dawn Part 2}}

Wounded critically, the Maximals withdrew to the Ark, while Tarantulas and his Predacons returned to his lair, where he directed them in the construction of a transwarp portal. Upon completion, Tarantulas planned to bring his stolen prize to his master, Unicron. Since his troops were getting restless, he promised them they could assault the Ark once they finished construction. Tarantulas was true to his word, and as Ravage led the Predacons against the Maximals, Unicron's spawn tried to stabilize the portal and prepared the Matrix for transport. {{storylink|Primeval Dawn Part 3}}

{{note|[[3H Productions]] dissolved before this storyline could be completed. Based on the subsequent ''Wreckers'' and ''[[Transformers: Universe (comic)|Universe]]'' storylines, it can be assumed that the Matrix of Leadership was restored to Optimus Prime's body at the end of this altercation, the Maximals were triumphant and used Tarantulas's portal to return home to Cybertron, and that Tarantulas somehow fled to Unicron.}}

After using the [[Divine Light]] to access [[Primus]]'s power, [[Cryotek (Universe)|Cryotek]] reanimated several [[Sharkticon (G1)|Sharkticon]] corpses into facsimiles of [[Megatron (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Megatron]]'s old subordinates, including one of Tarantulas. {{storylink|Wreckers: Finale Part II}}

[[File:Escape-Tarantulas.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|Tarantulus {{sic}} basically just never dies.]]

A year after the [[Great Reformatting]], the [[Unicron virus|influence]] of [[Unicron]] swayed an abducted [[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]] to the side of darkness. As she was escorted by [[Tankor (BM)|Tankor]] and [[Reptilion]] into the heart of the Chaos Bringer, she was surprised to see Tarantulas (still in his undead body) greet her as she joined the ranks of the [[Minion of Unicron|Minions of Unicron]]. She hissed with disgust while Tarantulas noted that it was just like old times. {{storylink|Escape (Universe)|Escape}}

Tarantulas had learned that [[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]] had been assembling the [[Child of Primus|Children of Primus]] to counter Unicron's Minions, and so he sent Blackarachnia on a mission to [[Primax 797.18 Epsilon|her home Cybertron]] to sever the link between the Transformers and [[Primus]] by invading [[Vector Sigma]]'s chamber and destroying Alpha Trion. He gave Blackarachnia a swarm of [[Piranacon (Universe)|Piranacon]]s and directions to the chamber through a structural weak point near the [[Rust Sea]]. {{storylink|Homecoming (Universe)|Homecoming}}
{{-}}

====''Transformers Legends'' anthology====
The [[Megatron (G1)|original Megatron]], now inside the mind of [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] after the latter planted the former's spark inside his body, berated the Predacon leader's failures—in particular, being led astray time and again by such treacherous subordinates as Tarantulas. {{storylink|A Meeting of Minds}}

====IDW ''Beast Wars'' comics====
One account states that when Tarantulas was born at the [[Pit (facility)|Pit]], a glitch in the process granted him insight into the fact that an alien force was manipulating the Predacons for its ends. Thus, Tarantulas became obsessed with whatever this force was. {{storylink|Transformers: Beast Wars Sourcebook|Beast Wars Sourcebook #4}}

Another account stated that Tarantulas was one of the [[Tripredacus Council]]'s covert agents, working for them since before the Great Wars began to be recorded. As a key member of the council's schemes, Tarantulas helped develop the combiner technology that led to [[Predacus]]. {{storylink|#Combiner Wars|''Combiner Wars'' Tarantulas bio}}

Before his travels off-world, Tarantulas worked in tandem with the Tripredacus Council, who sought to unite Cybertron under a single, "purer" race. As the Great War drew to a close, Tarantulas received field intelligence reporting startling news: both [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]] and [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]] had died in a terrible confrontation between their forces. Though his masters weren't particularly moved by this turn of events, [[Megatron (BW)|a renegade]] within their army's ranks was. It became clear to the council that this upstart would resume the offensive against the enemy forces despite being ordered not to, and so Tarantulas was sent back out into the field to try and prevent any further complications from arising out of the situation.

While Tarantulas was away, the Council's secret base was discovered, and due to an [[Axalon (BW)|exploration vessel]] accidentally getting in its path, the transmatter bomb the Council had attempted to launch, to reformat all of Cybertron at once, was deflected from its proper course. Ram Horn, Cicadacon, Sea Clamp, and Ravage all met up with Tarantuals in the field, and confronted the gestalt [[Predaking (G1)|Predaking]], who was among the Decepticons causing dissension in their ranks. Tarantulas and his allies isolated him on the battlefield, and merged into their own gestalt form, [[Predacus]], to slay him.

Tarantulas next met with the upstart now calling himself "Megatron", and told him that the transmatter raining down on the planet was the result of a doomsday weapon of Galvatron's going off, triggered by the mad tyrant's death. He next informed Megatron that Predaking has comitted suicide out of shame for his involvement in Galvatron's plans. The Tripredacus Council had hoped these lies would be enough to dissuade Megatron from continuing hostilities, but this was not the case, and so moved on to plan B: sniping Megatron with a stun beam, and surrendering to the Autobots themselves.

For the "great risks" Tarantulas took towards the pursuit of peace, he was granted amnesty after the signing of the Pax Cybertronia. He had a hearty laugh at the expense of the Autobots' gullibility over this. {{storylink|Dawn of the Predacus}}

During his time on Earth, Tarantulas discovered the force he was obsessed with since birth was the [[Vok]]. {{storylink|Transformers: Beast Wars Sourcebook|Beast Wars Sourcebook #4}} He also programmed the Predacons' mobile fortress, the [[Arachnid]], utilizing his own personality programs to give it some form of sentience, accompanied by Tarantulas's own tendency for cruelty. {{storylink|Transformers: Beast Wars Sourcebook|Beast Wars Sourcebook #1}}

While [[Magmatron]] surveyed the timestream, he witnessed several key events during the Beast Wars. Among these was Tarantulas in his original "beast" body skulking in his lair. {{storylink|The Gathering issue 1|The Gathering #1}}

====SD BotCon====
Tarantulas joined Ravage at a bar to [[Dawn of the Predacus|laugh maniacally over drinks]], only for the pair to be approached by [[Beetle]] after their fourth outburst; the pair were being kicked out since everyone else was tired of their cackling. Thankfully, Tarantulas knew of a place where they could laugh to their hearts' content... a children's ball pit! {{storylink|SD SG#SDBC1|SD BotCon #1}}

====''Timelines''====
[[File:TheftOfGoldenDisk-Tarantulas.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.66|What y'wanna do? Wanna be hackers? Code crackers? Slackers? Wastin' time with all the chatroom yakkers? WHAT?]]
Tarantulas decoded the information on the [[Golden Disk (Voyager)|Golden Disk]] which had been freshly stolen by Megatron. He thought this was quite hilarious, but then, he thinks that about everything. {{storylink|Theft of the Golden Disk}}

[[File:Tarantulasdawn.jpg|thumb|See? A Planet X key in the corner of the pic. He's working for Unicron! Get him!]]
As [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] and his rogue band of Predacons escaped [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] in their stolen ship, the ''[[Darksyde (BW)|Darksyde]]'', Tarantulas was in charge of scanning the disk for a desired set of coordinates. While Megatron was not watching, he was in secret communication with [[Cicadacon|General Cicadacon]] of the [[Tripredacus Council]].

Using the decoded coordinates, the ''Darksyde'' opened a [[transwarp]] portal, which it and the [[Axalon (BW)|''Axalon'']] passed through. {{storylink|Dawn of Future's Past}}

Two weeks after [[Airazor (BW)|Airazor]] was reborn on [[Earth]], Tarantulas fought to defend an orbital weapon from the Maximals. The launching pad was destroyed by Airazor. {{storylink|The Razor's Edge}}
{{-}}

====''Wings Universe''====
[[File:Tarantulasemerges-ACommonFoe.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1 "Well, howdy! Just scratching the wall, don't mind me!"]]]
One of four mysterious protoforms found by [[Sky-Byte (RID)#Wings Universe|Sky-Byte]] in the laboratory of [[Jhiaxus (G2)#Wings Universe|Jhiaxus]] while trying to save his former collaborator's clones from the Autobots, {{storylink|A Common Foe}} Tarantulas and [[Tripredacus Council|the other three]] pledged allegiance to the Predacons in suspiciously quick time.<ref name="TFSS3bio">"Tarantulas is a being without a history. In his rush to remove Jhiaxus' clones from his laboratory before the Autobots discovered its location, Sky-Byte mistakenly extracted four stasis pods of unknown origin. The emergent robots immediately declared for the Predacon cause, some might say suspiciously quickly. Of the four robots, Tarantulas has since discovered an endless fascination with experimental science, especially seeking any opportunity for vivisection."</ref>

=====''Hot Shot's Bot Thoughts''=====
The Tarantulas of [[Primax 509.28 Epsilon]] was interviewed by [[Hot Shot (Armada)|Shotimus Prime]], who seemed determined to prove that Tarantulas was also [[Sideways (Armada)|Sideways]]. Annoyed by Shotimus's badgering, Tarantulas eventually resorted to pulling the Matrix out of Shotimus's chest, reverting him to Hot Shot, and then hitting him repeatedly with it. {{storylink|Hot Shot's Bot Thoughts}}

====Waspscream continuity====
In [[Primax 208.06 Zeta]], Tarantulas joined [[Waspinator (BW)|Waspscream]]'s successful coup against Megatron. Waspscream then convinced Tarantulas to decode Megatron's Golden Disk by promising to make Tarantulas his lieutenant upon returning to Cybertron and deposing the Tripredacus Council. Unfortunately en route, Megatron escaped, conquered Cybertron with a [[transformation virus]], and turned the bodies of Cybertron's populace into [[Vehicon (BM)|Vehicon]]s. Upon arrival, Waspscream's crewmembers who had [[transmetal]] forms managed to survive the virus and escape Megatron's clutches, eventually finding their way to the [[Oracle (BM)|Oracle]], who granted them [[technorganic]] forms. Waspscream's Predacons waged a valiant Spark War against the Vehicons, eventually achieving victory. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/08/16}}

===''Beast Wars Metals'' manga===
[[File:TarantulasMangaMouth01.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Tarantulas raises an army of mannequins to strike terror into his foes.]]

Following the [[Quantum surge]], Tarantulas was upgraded into a [[Transmetal]]. Scheming with [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] within their floating island base, [[Hindenburg]], Tarantulas developed a plan to revive the deceased [[Optimus Primal]] as a [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] slave. Recovering Primal's mindless, raging body, Tarantulas staged a strange voodoo ceremony (complete with boiling cauldron). As Megatron pricked his finger and prepared to use his mutated blood to turn Primal's rampaging body into his slave, the spark of Optimus Primal returned to it just in the nick of time. As Primal turned into a Transmetal, Tarantulas began to celebrate, convinced that his plan had worked out better than he had thought, unaware of what was really going on. In fact, he was ''so'' convinced that Primal was now a Predacon slave, that he ordered the monkey to give him a shoulder massage. Optimus Primal proceeded to knock Tarantulas's block off. {{storylink|Beast Wars Metals issue 1|Beast Wars Metals #1}}

Tarantulas pulled himself together and confronted Tigatron, only to be promptly sliced in half. {{storylink|Beast Wars Metals issue 2|Beast Wars Metals #2}}

Undeterred, he taped himself back together and planted an [[arachnoid]] in Tigatron which gave Tarantulas control of the Maximal samurai's mind and body. {{storylink|Beast Wars Metals issue 3|Beast Wars Metals #3}} Airazor linked her mind to Tigatron's in an attempt to free her beloved and while her body fought Tigatron, Airazor's consciousness fought Tarantulas and his virtual minions. Ultimately, with Blackarachnia's help, Tigatron's mind was freed, though Airazor died in the process, killed by the mind-controlled Tigatron. Optimus Primal arrived and promptly stomped Tarantulas to death and blew his body to pieces. {{storylink|Beast Wars Metals issue 4|Beast Wars Metals #4}}

Shortly afterward, the energies from sparks freed from an obliterated [[Rampage (BW)|Rampage]] brought Tarantulas back to life as a mindless zombie. He fought Optimus Primal but was destroyed for good by Primal's rocket-fists. {{storylink|Beast Wars Metals issue 5|Beast Wars Metals #5}}

===''Transformers Legends'' anthology===
When [[human]] archaeologists uncovered a cave filled with primitive language, [[Mini-Con]] [[Laserbeak (Armada)|Laserbeak]] translated it for them. The markings told of a time when the Maximals and Predacons crash-landed on prehistoric Earth, though the stranded Transformers were seen by the protohumans as gods. The "spider-god" and the "[[Waspinator (BW)|wasp-god]]," under instruction from their [[Megatron (BW)|leader]], enslaved the humans for the purposes of excavating "[[Energon|glowing rose crystals]]." Eventually, a "[[Silverbolt (BW)|wolf-god]]" came, and had a fierce battle with the spider, allowing the captive humans to flee. The spider was defeated by the wolf, and then buried underground in a cave-in. {{storylink|Fire in the Dark}}

====Ask Vector Prime====
In [[Aurex 1104.30-JH Zeta]], Tarantulas had his own agenda on prehistoric Earth. He deployed his [[Arachnoid]]s across the globe to search for traces of [[Super Energon]], accumulating a large cache of the powerful substance. Optimus Primal sacrificed himself to hijack Tarantulas's makeshift craft and destroy it in orbit, causing a [[Quantum surge|Super Energon Transwarp Explosion]] which granted a [[Transmetal]] upgrade to many participants in the conflict as well as created the [[Fuzor]]s. Later, Megatron attempted to use Tarantulas's secret experiments in a last-ditch effort to turn the tide, but ultimately, the Maximals emerged victorious in the war for the [[Mini-Con]]s. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/08/13}}

===''Transformers Legends'' comic===
Tarantulas sneakily browsed the toys for sale at [[Transformers Celebration 2014]]. {{storylink|Legends Bonus Vol.}} The head of [[Tera-Kura Co.]]'s science department and an expert at building robots, he he was responsible for production of their [[Nightbird (G1)|Nightbird]] clones. One day he was approached by the [[Decepticon]] [[Headmaster (technology)|Headmasters]] of [[OG World|another universe]], who offered him use of their technology in exchange for his help in building them new [[transtector]]s. Realizing he could use this tech to conquer the [[Legends Universe]] for himself, Tarantulas accepted. {{storylink|Headmasters Chapter Prologue}} Once a partnership between the Decepticons and Tera-Kura had been formed, he used data stolen from the [[Autobot]] Headmasters to build a body for [[Skullcruncher (G1)|Skullcruncher]] as well as the drone [[Batora]]. Seeking to eliminate the Autobots, his rivals on the technology market, he and [[Weirdwolf (G1)|Weirdwolf]] then sent out Skullcruncher to lure out and destroy them, but the Headmaster was defeated. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 22|Bonus Edition Vol. 22}} Tarantulas's boss, [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]], chewed them out over their violent approach, leading to a disgruntled Tarantulas building a body for Megatron that would turn him into the destructive [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]]. In the end, Megatron resisted the body and taught them a lesson, though Tarantulas pointed out that as he'd planned, Galvatron's destruction had increased Tera-Kura's sales. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 23|Bonus Edition Vol. 23}}

Not ones to give up, Tarantulas and Weirdwolf had [[Mindwipe (G1)|Mindwipe]] hypnotize Megatron back into Galvatron only for [[Blurr (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Blurr]] to undo the spell. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 25|Bonus Edition Vol. 25}} He was present at the office when [[Scourge (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Scourge]] attempted to take over Tera-Kura. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 26|Bonus Edition Vol. 26}} When a group of [[Nightbeat (G1)|mass-produced Headmasters]] from [[Axalon Trading Company|Autobot Axalon Trading Company]] started stealing Decepticon transtectors on the orders of [[Rewind (G1)|Rewind]], Tarantulas responded by activating the Galvatron body's mask, briefly brainwashing the unfortunate [[Rattrap (BW)|Rattrap]] into being evil. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 28|Bonus Edition Vol. 28}} Since his Megatron plan wasn't working out, Tarantulas chose to enter the Galvatron body and pilot it himself, using it to defeat Megatron and use his head mode as a soccer ball. Though he was defeated by [[Wheelie (G1)|Wheelie]] and [[Shūta Gō]], he was happy with the data he'd gathered about controlling a transtector. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 29|Bonus Edition Vol. 29}} He then finished a new transtector for Weirdwolf, shocking its owner by making it sentient (and revealing that Skullcruncher's had been so all along). {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 30|Bonus Edition Vol. 30}}

Tarantulas was initially gleeful when Tera-Kura purchased [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]], but quickly grew unsatisfied and wanted control of ''both'' Metroplex and Autobot Axalon's new base, [[Fortress Maximus (G1)|Maximus]]. He had Weirdwolf infiltrate Maximus and take it for Tera-Kura by using the [[Master Sword]], but the plan failed when Weirdwolf was unable to control the giant transtector's power. Using what he'd learned from piloting Galvatron, Tarantulas took things into his own hands by taking direct control of Metroplex and having him attack Maximus. The battle between Metroplex and Fortress Maximus ended with Fortress destroying Tarantulas's control device, and the scientist was arrested for his crimes. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 31|Bonus Edition Vol. 31}} He eventually broke out of jail and encountered [[Astrotrain (G1)|Astrotrain]], who agreed to hide him from the law in exchange for a transtector of his own. Tarantulas then found himself pressed to mass-produce these bodies for Astrotrain's master plan, and once he was done and expected to get along with his "fellow jailbird", Astrotrain promptly deemed him unnecessary and turned on him, sending him fleeing. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 40|Bonus Edition Vol. 40}} He next found refuge with Weirdwolf's faction of Decepticons, only to again be press-ganged into building bodies, this time for [[Full-Tilt]] and [[Trypticon (G1)|Trypticon]]. {{storylink|LG-43 Trypticon Project Chapter}}

===Ask Vector Prime===
To the best of [[Vector Prime]]'s knowledge, Tarantulas and [[Sideways (Armada)|Sideways]] did not think of themselves as relatives. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/05/15}}

[[Sideways (Armada)|Sideways]] claimed he showed up at the last second to help win [[#3H comics|the battle against Primal Prime]] but only referred to Ravage being there, not Tarantulas. {{storylink|Ask_Vector_Prime/Sideways_src#July_6.2C_2015|Ask Sideways, 2015/06/06}} He also claimed to know the secret origins of Tarantulas and the Tripredacus Council. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Sideways, 2015/06/28}}

===IDW Generation 1 continuity===
[[File:SinsoftheWreckers3-Mesothulas.jpg|left|thumb|250px]]

Mesothulas was a non-affiliated scientist who covertly worked for [[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]] during the early stages of the Autobot/Decepticon war. Mesothulas saw their relationship as symbiotic -— Prowl's imagination would feed into Mesothulas's desire to make the impossible real and vice versa. Their partnership resulted in many frightening advancements, such as [[stasis bullet]]s, [[Spark extractor|spark extraction]], [[Decepti-bomb]]s, and [[Aequitas]] itself. What he considered his greatest success, however, was the creation of artificial Transformer life—[[Ostaros]]. Prowl eventually began to have doubts about the ethics involved with Mesothulas's inventions, especially after the scientist unveiled his latest creation: a prison dimension Mesothulas dubbed the "[[Noisemaze]]". {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 3|Sins of the Wreckers #3}}

Unable to let Mesothulas continue his increasingly depraved experiments, Prowl asked [[Impactor (G1)|Impactor]] to dispose of Mesothulas and his creations by pushing the scientist into his own Noisemaze and destroying the entire contents of his workshop. The deed was done, although neither Prowl nor Impactor could bring themselves to put down Ostaros. Instead, Prowl falsified a new identity for him as the Autobot "[[Springer (G1)|Springer]]". {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 3|Sins of the Wreckers #3}} {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 5|Sins of the Wreckers #5}}

[[File:SinsoftheWreckers3 Ultra Energon.jpg|thumb|right|250px|''But then one day he went to that science lab'' ''That mutated spider came down'']]

Mesothulas was prepared for such an occurrence, though, having a personal jumpgate built into his body. Even still, the disorienting effects of the Noisemaze made it centuries before Mesothulas could remember and put it to use. Returning to his lab to find it empty, Mesothulas decided to follow where [[Shockwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Shockwave]] trode and went to [[Earth]]. There, he found and refined a sample of [[Ore-13|Ultra-Energon]] into [[obtenteum]], a super-fuel he used to power his future inventions. Inspired by the native wildlife, Mesothulas developed [[Chimeracon|perfect bio-disguises]] which nearly completely masked a Cybertronian's presence. One creature in particular, the spider, attracted Mesothulas's attention. He modified his own body with Chimeracon technology to gain a tarantula form and renamed himself "Tarantulas". {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 3|Sins of the Wreckers #3}}

At some point after adopting his new [[alternate mode]], Tarantulas kicked off the incident that would later be known as the "[[Roadbuster affair]]" - shrinking down to a tiny form, Tarantulas crawled into [[Roadbuster (G1)|Roadbuster]]'s ear and began whispering to the Autobot, convincing him to do terrible things to his recruits. Roadbuster assumed that he was hearing the voice of [[Mortilus]] and cheerfully started torturing and murdering his cadets on "Mortilus's" orders, while Tarantulas used the [[spark]]s Roadbuster unwittingly harvested to test the Chimeracon process. The Autobots found out just in time to save [[Hubcap (G1)|Hubcap]]. By that point Tarantulas had already fled the scene and everyone assumed that poor old Roadbuster had just gone round the bend. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 4|Sins of the Wreckers #4}}

Needing some real muscle on his side, Tarantulas became the patron of the anarchist group, [[Mayhem Attack Squad|Mayhem]], supplying them with similar bio-disguises. Meanwhile, he turned his attention to building a laboratory complex, the [[Tor]], within the Noisemaze. He also managed to turn Hubcap to his side, serving as a mole within the [[Autobot]] ranks whose [[Outlier]] skills let Tarantulas uncover Prowl's secrets, including the data containing Aequitas's proclamations. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 3|Sins of the Wreckers #3}} Even though Tarantulas admitted having been the voice of "Mortilus" that drove Roadbuster mad, the terrified Hubcap went with it in the hope of justice and getting a stronger body for himself. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 4|Sins of the Wreckers #4}}

[[File:SinsoftheWreckers3-Tarantulasspider.jpg|left|thumb|300px|''Oh, and now Meso crawls over everyone's walls'' ''And he's swingin' all over town'']]

With Prowl a wanted fugitive after his disastrous exploits on [[Caminus]], nobody noticed when Mesothulas ordered Mayhem to abduct Prowl. The disgraced tactician found himself in the Noisemaze, greeted by Tarantulas. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 1|Sins of the Wreckers #1}} Tarantulas suspended Prowl in his webs and presented Aequitas trial data, stolen from [[Verity Carlo]], as collateral for an open conversation between the two. {{Storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 2|Sins of the Wreckers #2}} With the greatest of anticipation, Tarantulas unveiled his new form to Prowl, who was horrified at his old collaborator's metamorphosis. Prowl suspected Tarantulas intended to use the war crimes data from Aequitas to simply blackmail him, but Tarantulas had more complex desires. Honestly, Tarantulas merely wished to work with Prowl again, to recreate the symbiosis of their original possibly-more-than-professional relationship. When Prowl still refused, he was placed in the company of his would-be rescuers: Verity, [[Springer (G1)|Springer]], [[Roadbuster (G1)|Roadbuster]], and [[Arcee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Arcee]], their most shameful, damning thoughts opened bare to him thanks to Tarantulas's new invention, [[Impetus]]. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 3|Sins of the Wreckers #3}}

Tarantulas explained to Verity that her current sickly condition was a result of exposure to the Aequitas supercomputer back on [[Garrus-9]]. Tarantulas attempted to force Prowl into Impetus, only for Prowl to try and talk him out of it, offering to tell him about Ostaros's ''true'' fate and lying that he had killed the artificial Transformer that day in the lab. Before Tarantluas could go through with his plan, Kup Impactor, and Guzzle crashed the Noisemaze with [[Debris]], threatening to tear the pocket dimension apart. Tarantulas ordered his Chimeracons to counterattack and Hubcap to transmit the Aequitas data across the galaxy, only for Hubcap to turn on his employer and free his Autobot prisoners. Arcee, Springer, and Roadbuster ganged up on the spider-bot, but he proved too powerful. Roadbuster managed to temporarily dispatch him by transforming into vehicle mode and ''ramming'' Tarantulas, sending both of them flying out the window. Tarantulas survived the fall by shrinking and crawling inside Roadbuster's head, just like old times.

[[File:K-PLUTCH.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The itsy-bitsy spider blew up Roadbuster's head.]]

Tarantulas taunted his old victim one last time... then expanded back to his full size, blowing open Roadbuster's head from the inside out.

As the surviving Autobots regrouped at the Tor, intending to destroy the entire complex, Tarantulas arrived, promising that before the day was done he would do "something weird" to everyone. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 4|Sins of the Wreckers #4}} Using mass displacement to enlarge his spider mode to massive size, Tarantulas used a retinal scanner to activate a final contingency plan: shrinking the Tor itself down to pocket size so that he can safely transport the facility out of the collapsing dimension. Tarantulas taunted Arcee, Verity, and Prowl, gloating that he'd healed Verity's illness for no reason other than to one-up Prowl. The mad scientist continued to grow as he ranted about his need for revenge on Prowl, prompting Prowl to reveal to his old friend that ''Impactor'' was the one to blame for the destruction of his lab. Realizing this, Tarantulas demanded to know what had become of Ostaros, and seconds later made the connection between Springer's voice and the fate of his creation. Thoughts of revenge momentarily forgotten, Tarantulas attempted to reunite with Ostaros, only to be halted by Arcee and Impactor. Arcee severed Tarantulas's beast mode head, using it to trip the retinal scanner and halt the Tor's contraction.

Having survived the loss of his beast mode head, Tarantulas managed to find Springer, earning himself a punch in the face from the green Autobot. His words were garbled by the energies of the Noisemaze, preventing any kind of meaningful dialogue between creator and creation. The pair struggled with one another as Springer repeatedly stabbed Tarantulas, neither of them able to speak or hear each other. Seconds later, Impactor detonated the entire Noisemaze, destroying almost all of Tarantulas's creations and perhaps the mad scientist with them.

Back in [[Nome]], Verity and Springer watched the northern lights, while a tiny spider spun a web in Springer's wheel-well... {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 5|Sins of the Wreckers #5}}

{{--}}

===''Beast Wars: Uprising''===
[[File:TriggerWarnings Tarantulas.jpg|right|thumb|300px|"HA HA HA! This section is not at all informative!"]]
{{charstubfiction|{{storylink|Trigger Warnings}} {{storylink|Derailment}}}}

==Games==
===''Beast Wars: Transformers'' video game continuity===
====''Beast Wars: Transformers'' video game comic====
[[File:BWgameUK-Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=0.85|Some great dialog there, Tarry.]]
Upon arriving on prehistoric Earth, the dangers of Energon radiation forced the Maximals and Predacons to take on beast alternate forms. Tarantulas picked up a tarantula in his palm and scanned it. Soon, Tarantulas spotted [[Cheetor (BW)|Cheetor]] moving in on the Predacons' crash site. Swearing revenge, Tarantulas transformed and attacked, and threatened to skin the Maximal alive. {{storylink|Beast Wars: Transformers video game advertising comic}}

====''Beast Wars: Transformers'' video game====
{{voiceactor|??? (English), ??? (Japanese)}}
[[File:BeastWarsPSX-Tarantulasstats.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.1|Sadly, there's no Eat Cheetor level.]]

Many Beast Wars combatants had managed to construct personal bases, customized to their personal tastes, due to the extended duration of the war. Tarantulas still preferred to operate out of a dark, underground lair. Tarantulas joined his fellow Predacons in battling not only the persistent Maximal resistance, but the interdimensional monsters known as the [[Skriix]].

=====Maximal campaign=====
After [[Rhinox (BW)|Rhinox]] had expanded his own personal base too close to Tarantulas's own territory, creating an opening for the Predacon to infiltrate Rhinox's personal metropolis. Tarantulas overtook Rhinox's base and reprogrammed its defenses, prompting the Maximals to retake it. The Maximal's offensive push forced Tarantulas to retreat deeper and deeper into the annexed territory, until he finally returned to his own lair. While he was in control of Rhinox's forces, however, Tarantulas had gained access to sensitive information, prompting the Maximals to follow Tarantulas back to his hide-out, and eliminate him once and for all.

=====Predacon campaign=====
Rhinox's expansion into Tarantulas's territory allowed the Predacons to infiltrate the Maximal's "Urban Area" and eliminate Rhinox. {{storylink|Beast Wars: Transformers (video game)|Beast Wars: Transformers}}

{{Note|Due to the nature of this game, a player may select various individual characters to perform the feats required in every level, and complete the game's narrative. Thus, any playable Maximal can fill the role of protagonist in Maximal Mode, and any playable Predacon can fill the role of protagonist in Predacon Mode. The various feats Tarantulas can accomplish throughout gameplay in Predacon Mode as the story protagonist are described on the [[Beast Wars: Transformers (video game)|''Beast Wars'' video game]] page.}}

===''Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals'' (N64)===
[[File:N64Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|Arboreal Camouflage Tarantulas? Blue Crusader Tarantulas?]]
{{voiceactor|[[Alec Willows]] (English), ??? (Japanese)}}

Tarantulas found a way to escape prehistoric Earth and return to Cybertron. The Beast Wars progressed in his absence for a time...

[[File:N64 Tarantulus.jpg|frame|left|Player 2 Has Entered His Stomach. Continue?]]
Then he came back, newly promoted and with an armada of Transwarp battleships under his command, out to end the Beast Wars and enforce the Tripredacus Council's will... {{storylink|Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals (N64)}}
{{note|Each character possessed an alternate ending, displayed if the game was beaten with said character. Each character has only their own ending listed on their pages, see the other characters' pages for Tarantulas's fate in those outcomes.}}

===''Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals'' (PS)===
{{voiceactor|[[Alec Willows]] (English), ??? (Japanese)}}
{{Storylink|Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals (PS)}}
{{charstubgame}}

===''Duel Fight Transformers Beast Wars''===
[[File:DuelFight Tarantulas.gif|thumb|upright=1.1]]
Megatron was capable of summoning Tarantulas forth to the battlefield during his attempts to acquire the super-powerful [[energon crystal]]. {{storylink|Duel Fight Transformers Beast Wars: Beast Warriors' Strongest Decisive Battle|Duel Fight Transformers Beast Wars}}
{{--}}

===''Transformers: Battle Tactics''===
[[File:BattleTacticsTarantulas.jpg|thumb|400px]]
Tarantulas participated in battles against a variety of opponents, both Autobots and Decepticons. Sometimes there were many of him! He appeared in three different bodies:
*''Tarantulas'' — This Super Rare character first appeared in the "Beast Wars: Episode 2" event, and could be recruited by by collecting 250 units of Cybermetal, 75 units of Transmetal, 35 event cores, and 10 cores of this character.
*''Tarantulas'' — This Epic Character was available in the August Daily Campaign and could be recruited by collecting 20 Alpha cores, 20 Beta cores, 20 Omega cores, and 10 cores of this character.
*''Tarantulas Transmetal'' — This Super Rare character was available to 2500 players during the second event of the "Transmetals: Episode 3" mini events.
{{storylink|Transformers: Battle Tactics}}
{{{!}}border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background:transparent"
{{!}}-
{{!}}style="background:transparent; border-right: 0px" valign="top"{{!}}
[[File:Battle-Tactics-Tarantulas-Timelines.jpg|thumb|400px Watch out!/Here comes the spider bike!]]
{{!}}style="background:transparent; border-right: 0px" valign="top"{{!}}
[[File:Battle-Tactics-Tarantulas-Transmetal.jpg|thumb|400px]]
{{!}}}
{{--}}

==Toys==
===Beast Wars===
[[File:BWtoy-Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|Interested in getting hog-tied with spider-butt rope? Running is the only 'no' available.]]
*'''Tarantulas''' (Deluxe, 1996/1997)
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''D-4'''
**''Accessories'': Launcher, 4 spider-leg missiles

: Part of the first wave of [[Beast Wars: Transformers (toyline)|''Beast Wars'' product]], Tarantulas transforms into an organic generic spider (''not'' a tarantula). His abdomen contains a spring-loaded missile launcher, which fires the anchor-missile kept in his spider-butt. This missile is attached by a string so he can hang from things like a real spider. The launcher can be removed and used as a [[robot mode]] weapon, using any of his front four spider-legs as missiles. Like all early Deluxe-and-up ''Beast Wars'' toys, he has two different robot mode "heads"; a robotic face and a "mutant" face. He is almost always depicted using the mutant face.

: There is a variation of this toy in the [[Hasbro]] line: Later releases (the smooth bubble) lack the yellow paint on his elbows.

: The [[TakaraTomy|Takara]] release of Tarantulas was originally identical to the Hasbro release. Later, a slightly color-altered version was released, using a brighter shade of green and a slightly darker gray. The color-altered version also replaced the blue eyes on the "robot" head and the black eyes of the "mutant" head with gold.

: This mold was used to make the first [[Blackarachnia (BW)/toys#Beast Wars|Blackarachnia toy]].

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1996/Predacon/Tarantulas/tarantulas.htm More information on Tarantulas at TFU.info]''

{{-}}{{anchor|VsDinobot}}
[[File:VS4-DinobotTarantuas.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|The classic battle of dino vs spider. We've all heard the tale.]]
*'''Brutal Showdown: Dinobot VS Tarans''' (VS pack, 1997)
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''VS-4'''
**''Accessories:'' Launcher, 4 spider-leg missiles

: In Japan, "Tarans" was available both as an individual and in a two-pack with "[[Dinobot (BW)|Dinobot]]". Both toys in this set were identical to their individual releases.

: Currently, it is unknown if the latter "more show-like" redeco of Tarantulas was ever released in a VS set.

{{-}}{{anchor|Transmetal}}
[[File:BWtoy-TarantulasTransmetal.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|I'm-a spawn of-a Unicron! I-a slice-a ya pizza!]]
*'''Tarantulas''' (Deluxe Transmetal, 1998)
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''D-44'''
**''Accessories'': Sawblade weapon

: Part of the first assortment of Deluxe [[Transmetal]]s, Tarantulas transforms into a robotic spider. He also has a third "transport" mode, flipping down a wheel from his abdomen and a saw-blade from under his beast-head, making a spidey-cycle. The saw detaches for robot mode to become a hand-held weapon.

: The Japanese version is slightly different, replacing the "TARANTULAS" [[tampograph]] with "DESTRON" and the Predacon sigil, plus his robot mode eyes are painted as a single visor to match the show look better.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1998/Predacon/Tarantulas/tarantulas.htm More information on Transmetal Tarantulas at TFU.info]''

{{-}}{{anchor|FKTransmetal}}
[[File:Tarantulas-FKTM.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|It's like Eight Legged Freaks, but classier, and with a pizza cutter.]]
*'''Tarantulas''' (Deluxe "Fox Kids" Transmetal, 1999)
**''Accessories'': Sawblade weapon

: A [[redeco]] of the Transmetal Tarantulas toy in grays, silver, and black. He and a Transmetal [[Cheetor (BW)/toys#TMFK|Cheetor]] redeco were part of the "[[Fox Kids]]" toys, so called for the advertisements for the Fox channel on the packaging (as the [[Beast Wars: Transformers (cartoon)|''Beast Wars'' cartoon]] had moved there from syndication). Internal Hasbro documents have listed this toy as "Steel Force Tarantulas",<ref>https://groups.google.com/d/msg/alt.toys.transformers/C30fV9dqOK0/gPO8D3N_PAUJ</ref> a name that did not make it to final packaging.

: These colors were used to depict Tarantulas in the ''[[Primeval Dawn]]'' and [[Transformers: Universe (comic)|''Universe'' comics]]. This toy was also later [[repurposing|repurposed]] as Tarantulas's [[Tarantulas (BWSG)|''Shattered Glass'' counterpart]]. With the toy's limited availability, secondary-market pricing for this item due to its fictional use has gone up.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1999/Predacon/FKTMTarantulas/tarantulas.htm More information on Fox Kids Tarantulas at TFU.info]''

{{-}}

===MicroVerse===
[[File:Tarantulas-Microverse.jpg|100px|thumb|I'm not [[Fantastic Four|The]] [[Thing]], I swear!]]
*'''Orcanoch''' ([[MicroVerse]], 1997)

: A small, non-transforming micro-figure of Tarantulas came with the [[MicroVerse]] [[Orcanoch]] playset. It was presumably painted based on the original design, as its upper body is copper rather than purple. Its only articulation is at the waist, letting it sit in any of the MicroVerse mini-vehicles or playset stations.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1997/Maximal/Orcanoch/orcanoch.htm More information on MicroVerse Tarantulas (via Orchanoch) at TFU.info]

{{-}}

===Beast Wars 10th Anniversary===
[[File:BWXtoy-Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|He's not here to help assemble Transmutate. That leg's his dinner.]]
*'''Predacon Tarantulus''' (Deluxe, 2006)
**''Accessories:'' Launcher, 4 spider-leg missiles

:This toy is a slight [[redeco]] of the original Tarantulas toy, more closely resembling Tarantulas's appearance in the cartoon (save the big Predacon faction sigil tampograph). Part of the second wave of [[Transformers: Beast Wars 10th Anniversary|''Beast Wars'' 10th Anniversary product]], he came with a DVD of the episode "[[Spider's Game]]," plus the left leg to [[Transmutate (character)|Trans-Mutate]].

:This release of Tarantulus has [[Misassembly|misassembled]] forearm/claws, which can be easily swapped to the correct position due to the [[ball joint]]ed elbows.
::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2006/Predacon/PredaconTarantulas/predacontarantulas.htm More information on 10th Anniversary Tarantulas at TFU.info]''

{{--}}

{{anchor|TimelinesToy}}
===Timelines===
[[File:Timelinestoy-TarantulasDOFP.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Everyone's second-favorite purple-and-yellow motorcycle two-Mini-Con-having servant of Unicron.]]
*'''Tarantulas''' (2015)
:Tarantulas is a redeco of ''[[Transformers United|United]]'' [[Scrapheap (G1)#United|Scrapheap]], itself a retool of ''[[Transformers (2010 toyline)|Transformers]]'' [[Wreck-Gar (G1)#Transformers (2010)|Wreck-Gar]] with a new head. He turns into a motorcycle. The toy is meant to represent his pre-''Beast Wars'' appearance. The toy also comes with two [[Arachnoid]]s that can be pegged into his left and right arms.

[[File:Timelinestoy-TarantulasDOFPslideshow.jpg|left|thumb|150px]]
:When first revealed at [[BotCon 2014]], the toy's color was different from the final release's appearance. The toy was lighter colored (including the Arachnoids!), his mouthplate was green, and his arms were entirely colored green, among many other differences.
{{2010Wreck-GarMold}}

{{-}}

===Combiner Wars===
{{anchor|DawnOfThePredacus}}
[[File:Timelines botcon tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|*Insert Spider-tank related caption here*]]
*'''Dawn of the Predacus''' ([[BotCon 2016]] box set)
**''Accessories'': Claw weapon, Combiner Foot/Hand

:A [[retool]] of ''[[Combiner Wars (toyline)|Combiner Wars]]'' [[Rook (Generations)#Generations|Rook]], "Predacon Tarantulas" features a new spider-esque head. As a ''Combiner Wars'' Deluxe limb he is able to combine with any Voyager Class toys released as part of the same subline but is, of course, intended to be combined with Sea Clamp, Cicadacon, Ramhorn, and Ravage to create [[Predacus]].

:Rather than 5mm hands, Tarantulas has forward-facing 5mm ports in front of his fists. This allows him to mount his claw-like accessory as an integrated weapon or use ''Combiner Wars'' combiner hands (one of which is included) as giant "Hulk hands".

:He was available exclusively at [[BotCon 2016]] in the "Dawn of the Predacus" box set with [[Ravage (G1)/toys#BotCon2016|Ravage]], [[Ram Horn#Combiner Wars|General Ramhorn]], [[Cicadacon#Combiner Wars|General Cicadacon]], and [[Sea Clamp#Combiner Wars|General Sea Clamp]].
{{CWRookMold}}
{{--}}

==Merchandise==
[[File:Tarantulasmutatingcard.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67]]
*'''Beast Wars Transformers Mutating Card Game''' (1997)
:Tarantulas was one of the 24 beast warriors to receive a battle card representation for the Beast Wars [[Beast Wars Transformers Mutating Card Game|card game]].
{{-}}
===Robot Heroes===
[[File:Robotheroestarantulasprimal.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|Don't take your eyes off your mech fluid, Primal.]]
*'''Optimus Primal vs Predacon Tarantulas''' (2008)

: Part of the second wave of ''[[Transformers: Universe (2008 toyline)|Universe]]'' ''[[Robot Heroes (toyline)|Robot Heroes]]'', this PVC figurine of Tarantulas' original body has articulation in the shoulders and neck. He was available only in a "Beast Wars Series" two-pack with [[Optimus Primal/toys|Optimus Primal]] (amusingly enough, the [[Maximal]] he also came with in the ''[[MicroVerse]]'' [[Orcanoch]] playset).

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2008/Predacon/RHTarantulas/tarantulas.htm More information on Robot Heroes Tarantulas at TFU.info]''

{{--}}

==Notes==
[[File:BWcommercial-Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|Not terribly appealing.]]
*Tarantulas is referred to as simply "Tarantula" in the [[commercial]] advertising his toy. This commercial and also early promotional pictures showed the original Tarantulas toy as being transparent orange, but the final toy was a clear deep purple instead. Presumably, this was for a little visual variety in the early line, which already had a largely tan toy ([[Dinobot (BW)|Dinobot]]) and a largely yellow toy ([[Cheetor (BW)/toys|Cheetor]]) in the Deluxe range, plus a Mega-sized Predacon arachnid then planned to be orange ([[Scorponok (BW)|Scorponok]]), and [[Tigatron]], who was at one point slated to be a traditional orange tiger.
[[File:TarantulasArm.jpg|upright=0.85|thumb|He tastes everything he holds.]]
*In the original control art for Tarantulas, the claws are shown in the same configuration as used in the show. In other words, the claws were somehow swapped during the assembly process and have remained as such on every version of the mold thereafter.
*The original Tarantulas toy has ''nine'' eyes in [[beast mode]], as does the show model. This makes characters' references to him as "eight-eyes" rather... interesting.
*Tarantulas's toy bios paint him as a really dumb ninja-like stealth assassin. Both of his [[Tech Spec]]s give him an intelligence of 4, even the numbers that accompany his ''Transmetals'' bio which mentions the cartoon's [[quantum surge]].
*In the first season, Tarantulas is characterized more as a cannibalistic, psychotic gourmand who happens to be the Predacons' Science Officer than as the mad scientist and master plotter he becomes from "[[Spider's Game]]" onwards. This is to the extent that his official season one profile makes several mentions of his eating habits, describes his sole interest as being "food", and summarizes his relationship with the other Predacons as simple disdain, as he considers them to all be potential meals.
*In the Japanese dub of ''Beast Wars'', Tarantulas retained his trademark cackle, but it was a little ''different''. His voice was very high-pitched and he shrieked almost constantly. His trademark laugh more closely resembled a wicked witch of sorts.
[[File:OptimalSituation Tarantulas insignia.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Tarantulas is one of Reprolabels's best customers.]]
*From "[[Optimal Situation]]" onwards, the [[Arachnoid]]s sport a Tarantulas-themed insignia.
[[File:TMtigatronboxback2.jpg|thumb|Pew! Pew!]]
*Tarantulas's origins are a bit complicated. He declares in "[[Other Victories]]" that he and the [[Tripredacus Council]] have origins other than Autobot and Decepticon, such that they would not be affected by the destruction of the Ark. Megatron's line about "Unicron's spawn" was apparently not intended by [[Bob Forward]] to be taken literally but as a generic Transformer insult; [[Larry DiTillio]] has said Bob "regrets" the line and they never had ''any'' fixed idea of Tarantulas' origin. Larry also said that had the show continued, the characters "might" be descended from the [[Cybertronian (faction)|Cybertronians]].<ref>[http://groups.google.com/group/alt.toys.transformers/msg/f06828ec523295c1?dmode=source&output=gplain Larry DiTillio's take on Tarantulas origins! at alt.toys.transformers]</ref> A Unicronian origin also creates potential canonical issues, as Tarantulas says that "under our rule, Cybertron will conquer the universe" ("[[Other Victories]]"), whereas Unicron's goal would have been to eat Cybertron. But, much like [[Terrorsaur (BW)|Terrorsaur]]'s line about "[[Darksyde (BW)|the dark side]]", this line developed a life of its own. Eventually this connection was reasserted in [[3H Productions]]' ''[[Primeval Dawn]]'' storyline, initially written by... Bob Forward. On the other hand, [[Fun Publications]]' "[[A Common Foe]]" depicted a [[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]]/Cybertronian origin for Tarantulas and the Tripredacus Council but left the specifics a mystery.
*Tarantulas's body in "[[Theft of the Golden Disk]]" is based on [[Ransack (Cybertron)|''Cybertron'' Ransack]]. His body in "[[Dawn of Future's Past]]", however, is a unique design not directly based on an existing toy, unlike the rest of the show characters in the story.
*Tarantulas is probably the only [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] [[Minion of Unicron]] who avoided being labeled a [[Decepticon]].
*From what can be observed from art on the back of Transmetal Tigatron's packaging, Tarantulas's vok-enhanced abilities include levitating and firing energy beams from his eye(s?) in [[robot mode]]. Neat!

===Foreign names===
*''Japanese:'' '''Tarans''' (タランス ''Taransu''), '''Tarantulas''' (タランチュラス ''Taranchurasu'')
*''Italian:'' '''Metal Tarantulas''' (Transmetal toy)
*''Korean:'' '''Tarantulas''' (타란튤라스 ''Talantyullaseu'')
*''Mandarin:'' '''Chīh-chū''' (Taiwan, 蜘蛛, "Spider"), '''Hóng Chīh-chū''' (Taiwan second and third season, 紅蜘蛛, "Red Spider"), '''Láng Zhū''' (China, 狼蛛, "Tarantula")
*''Polish:'' '''Tarantulator'''
*''Portuguese:'' '''Tarântulos''' (Brazil)

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Beast Wars Predacons]]
[[Category:Beast Wars 10th Anniversary]]
[[Category:Beast Wars: Uprising Predacons]]
[[Category:Cloud Predacons]]
[[Category:Combiner Wars]]
[[Category:Combiners]]
[[Category:Double agents]]
[[Category:Generation 1 Decepticons]]
[[Category:IDW Generation 1 Transformers]]
[[Category:Law enforcement]]
[[Category:Legends Predacons]]
[[Category:Minions of Unicron]]
[[Category:Ninjas]]
[[Category:Robot Heroes]]
[[Category:Scientists]]
[[Category:Timelines characters]]
[[Category:Toys "R" Us exclusives]]
[[Category:Transformers with three modes]]
[[Category:Transmetals]]
[[Category:Unicron-related characters]]
[[Category:Universe Predacons]]
[[Category:Universe (2008)]]
[[Category:Wings Universe Predacons]]

Tarantulas (BW)

2017-04-26T00:27:21Z

7Crimsonified7: /* Beast Wars cartoon */

{{factions|predacon|unicron|decepticon}}
{{disambig3|Tarantulas}}
{{featured}}
:''Tarantulas is a [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] from the [[Beast Wars: Transformers (franchise)|Beast Wars]] portion of the [[Generation 1 continuity family|Generation 1]] [[continuity family]].''

[[File:Tarantulasbw.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|[[BotCon 2000|"And fries! Lots of FRIES!"]]]]
'''Tarantulas''' is the scheming mad scientist of the Predacon crew. He's the type of mad scientist who experiments on living beings, cackling in his [[trademark]]ed laugh all the while, and then if things go wrong, happily eats what's left as his midday snack. The eating is what he was really looking forward to, anyway. It's this focused perversity that turns off even his fellow Predacons. Tarantulas's emotional detachment from their war also rubs his peers the wrong way. Fighting Maximals and following orders is just a required chore; his real passion is the unmentionable projects stashed in [[Tarantulas's lair|his "secret" lair]].

Nominally, Tarantulas was one of the Predacons to join [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] during his theft of the [[Golden Disk (Voyager)|Golden Disk]] and the search for [[Earth]]. In addition to being an utterly psychotic, sadistic sociopath, he has a record for treachery rivaled by few other Transformers. He is actually an [[Predacon Secret Police|agent]] of the [[Tripredacus Council]], which is trying to coax the Beast Wars toward an unspecified goal, where neither Autobot or Decepticon won the [[Great War (G1)|Great War]]. Who knows what other [[Unicron|dark secrets]] lie in his past.

If anything upsets Tarantulas, other than losing a potential meal, it's those pompous aliens who call themselves the [[Vok]]. He harbors a hatred for them strong enough to make him work to eliminate them by any means.

In some universes he can combine with the Tripredacus Council and [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] to form [[Predacus]].

Sometimes he is previously known as '''Mesothulas''' and sometimes his name is spelled as '''Tarantulus'''.

{{bigquote|You're ''insane.''|[[Tigerhawk]]}}
{{bigquote|So they ''saa''-aay! Wbrrwbrrbbppth!|Tarantulas|"[[Other Victories]]"}}

==Fiction==
===Toy bios===
[[File:PrimalVSMegs-Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Why Megatron, I do believe you're trying to seduce m— oh, hey, [[Razorbeast]].]]
Tarantulas was a sneaky, mysterious ninja feared across the galaxy. A master of the martial arts, he was suspected in the disappearances of many [[Human|Earthlings]], and rumors swirled of giant cocoons where he stored his prey. {{storylink|#Toys|Tarantulas bio}}

Tarantulas was guarding the Predacons' jungle-based genetics lab along with Megatron and Waspinator. When the Maximals discovered them, he engaged [[Razorbeast]] in combat briefly before Megatron called retreat and destroyed the lab. {{storylink|Optimus Primal vs Megatron!}}

After the [[quantum surge]], Tarantulas became a [[Transmetal]], with the accompanying vehicle mode to match. With his new set of wheels, Tarantulas didn't have to rely on stealth and deceit as much, instead speeding head-first into battle and using his new mechanical beast mode to overpower his enemies. {{storylink|#Transmetal|Transmetal Tarantulas bio}}
{{-}}

===Cartoon continuity===
====''Beast Wars'' cartoon====
{{voiceactor|[[Alec Willows]] (English), [[Scott McNeil]] (English, portions of "[[Other Voices, Part 2]]" only), [[Yūichi Nagashima]] (Japanese)|[[Alexandr Novikov]] (Russian, 1st dub), [[Hervé Joly]] (French), [[Lutz Harder]] (German), [[Riccardo Peroni]] (Italian), [[Junseok Song]] (Korean), [[Humberto Vélez]] (Latin American Spanish), [[Fábio Vilalonga]] (Portuguese)}}

Lieutenant Tarantulas of the [[Predacon Secret Police]] was one of [[Megatron (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Megatron]]'s original crew, a mole inside his organization feeding information back to the [[Tripredacus Council]] without his knowledge. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part 2)}} More than that, he was a ''direct'' agent of the Council and shared their origins, with an overall agenda to alter the timeline by going back to prehistoric Earth and completely destroying the [[Ark (G1)|''Ark'' and the Transformers within]]. {{storylink|Other Victories}} The plan went tits up though, as Megatron's ''Darksyde'' warship ended up crashing on an unidentified planet and contact with Cybertron was lost.{{storylink|Beast Wars (Part 1)}} Tarantulas carried on as normal despite this setback. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part 2)}}

[[File:TheWeb Tarantulas beast mode.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|Not arachnophobic, eh? I can fix that.]]
As Megatron's technical leader, he manned the scanners to appropriate beast forms based on the most powerful local creatures, choosing the form of an over-sized spider for himself. He cheerfully took part in the first battle of the [[Beast Wars (event)|Beast Wars]], only to succumb to energon buildup while the Maximals were escaping. {{storylink|Beast Wars (Part 1)}} The Predacons uncovered a stash of energon crystals atop a mountain, but were forced to fight in their [[beast mode]]s. Tarantulas and [[Rattrap (BW)|Rattrap]] fought in this manner until Megatron triggered a chain reaction which caused the energon to explode. {{storylink|Beast Wars (Part 2)}}

[[File:ChainofCommand Tarantulas firing.jpg|thumb|upright=1.34|Sure, he's fast on the draw, but he ALWAYS shoots himself in the foot.]]
It wasn't long before Tarantulas had set up his own [[Tarantulas's lair|underground lair]] to keep his experiments away from Megatron's prying eyes. After helping [[Scorponok (BW)|Scorponok]] recover a mega-cannon, Tarantulas managed to capture [[Cheetor (BW)|Cheetor]], trapping the young Maximal in a web in his lair with the intent of feeding later. Rattrap mounted a rescue, during which the cavern caved in on Tarantulas {{storylink|The Web}} Tarantulas was blasted by Rattrap during the battle at the [[Standing Stones]], and later accompanied Megatron and [[Terrorsaur (BW)|Terrorsaur]] to attack the ''Axalon'' after it appeared that [[Optimus Primal/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Optimus Primal]] had perished. After the Maximals got the ship's shields back up, he suggested to Megatron that they return to the Standing Stones. Unfortunately once there, the Maximals managed to retrieve Primal from the [[Vok probe|alien probe]] at the site, and Tarantulas was one of the first victims of the restored Maximal commander. {{storylink|Chain of Command (BW)|Chain of Command}}

Terrorsaur, his power boosted, defeated Megatron in combat before leaving Tarantulas in charge of the other Predacons. Tarantulas promptly tailed Terrorsaur to find out what his new power source was, and discovered it was a [[flying mountain]] topped with a cache of super energon. Before he could do anything with the knowledge, he encountered Rattrap, who'd come to destroy the mountain. Their fight ended with Tarantulas falling from the side of the mountain. {{storylink|Power Surge (episode)|Power Surge}} He subsequently took part in an attack on the Maximal base after a [[stasis pod]] crashed. While Megatron kept [[Dinobot (BW)|Dinobot]] distracted, Tarantulas and Scorponok ambushed the Maximal from behind. Unfortunately for them, Dinobot had time to activate the base defenses, and Tarantulas was blasted into the distance by the auto-guns. {{storylink|Fallen Comrades}}

When the Predacons finally captured a stasis pod, Tarantulas made sure that the [[protoform]] was given a spider beast mode, creating [[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]]. Megatron suspected he had ulterior motives, but was nonetheless pleased by the new soldier. Tarantulas seemed happy to follow Terrorsaur when the Predacon mounted another takeover attempt with the aid of Rattrap, but spent most of his time skulking around the ''Darksyde'' in search of rats to eat. He spotted Rattrap sneaking around, but the Maximal blasted him before he could do anything. He subsequently limped back to the others to find that Megatron had reasserted his leadership. {{storylink|Double Jeopardy}} After one of Scorponok's viruses turned Primal into a berserker, the Maximal leader broke into the Predacon base and, completely ignoring Tarantulas's attempts to stop him, pinned the spider to a wall using Tarantulas's own weapon. {{storylink|Gorilla Warfare}}

[[File:Tflocklens&tarantulas.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1|"Behold my latest invention... THE DISCO BALL VERSION 2.0!"]]
One of Tarantulas's many inventions, the [[transformation lock lens]], was instrumental in preventing the Maximals from contacting a [[temporal probe]] doing a flyby of the planet. He used it to ensnare [[Tigatron]] and Cheetor, then wreaked havoc with the Maximals' attempts to build a communications array, before he was finally defeated by Primal. Although his new toy was destroyed by the recovered Cheetor and Tigatron, the damage was already done, and the probe flew by uncontacted. {{storylink|The Probe}} After the Predacons discovered a Maximal spy camera in their base, they faked a mutiny and hid in a crevice. Tarantulas spent his nights being hugged like a stuffed toy by [[Waspinator (BW)|Waspinator]], and his days eating stray rats. While the Maximals repaired the ''Axalon'', the Predacons were discovered by Dinobot, and gave chase. Though they attacked the Maximal ship in an attempt to capture it, the affair ended with the ''Axalon'' crashing back to the ground. {{storylink|Victory (episode)|Victory}} After a Maximal victory, largely due to the efforts of Rhinox, Tarantulas captured the rhino in a web on Megatron's orders, so that he could be converted into a Predacon by the [[Transmuter (BW)|Transmuter]]. In return, the new Predacon poisoned him and Blackarachnia. {{storylink|Dark Designs}}

[[File:Spider'sGame Taratulas hauling stasis pod.jpg|thumb|upright=1.45|Ever the engineer, Tarantulas invents the low-tech equivalent of a tow truck.]]
Tarantulas detected another stasis pod landing in [[Grid Scavos]], but Megatron refused to let him go and assist in the recovery, much to his disgust. {{storylink|The Spark}} The next time a stasis pod crashed, Tarantulas was more prepared. From his lair, he used a [[magna pulse]] to disable both the ''Darksyde'' and ''Axalon'' to allow him to investigate without interference. Unfortunately for him, Blackarachnia had found his lair, and insisted on coming along to help. At the pod, Tarantulas reprogrammed the new arrival into a Predacon, but was disappointed that a beast mode had already been chosen, and [[Inferno (BW)|Inferno]] would not be another spider. In the confusion that followed, he made off with the real prize — the stasis pod itself. Unfortunately for him, Tigatron destroyed the pod before he could get very far, and he was forced to retreat when Megatron arrived. Later, in his lair, he inadvertently told Blackarachnia that the planet was doomed, and she realized he was intending to build an escape ship, however he threw her out before she could work out any more of his plans. {{storylink|Spider's Game}}

Tarantulas took part in a diversionary attack while Waspinator and Terrorsaur stole the Maximals' [[rectifier coil]]. After the Maximals went feral, the Predacons mounted a hunting expedition, though Tarantulas was stuck supporting the back end of Megatron's chair. {{storylink|Call of the Wild}} On another occasion, Tarantulas detected what appeared to be walking energon. Megatron realized that an earlier battle had left four of the Maximals contaminated and blinded, and ordered Tarantulas to send Terrorsaur to investigate. {{storylink|Dark Voyage}} After Waspinator was possessed by the ghost of [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]], Tarantulas took part in the attack on the ''Axalon'', and pointed out once they'd conquered it that their own base was now undefended. Megatron's answer was to leave Starscream in charge of the ''Axalon'', a decision which would come back to bite him later. {{storylink|Possession}}

[[File:Dinobottarantulasrattrapthelowroad.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.34|"See? I told you I was taller than Tarantulas."]]
During an attack on the Maximal base, Tarantulas was able to infect Rhinox with an [[energon discharge virus]], though he himself was injured by Dinobot during the retreat. He was tracked by Dinobot and Rattrap, but eventually turned the tables by getting the drop on them, only to be flattened by a huge boulder. After recovering, he took advantage of their incessant arguing by trying to get the drop on them again, only to be knocked unconscious by a double punch. Finally, Dinobot attempted to use Tarantulas's body as a hostage, only for Megatron to blast it aside. Perhaps his only consolation was that he avoided the indignity of the fate that befell the rest of the Predacons. {{storylink|The Low Road}}

With the return of the [[Vok|aliens]] a certainty, Tarantulas stole a [[transwarp cell]] from the ''Darksyde'', slagging Waspinator in the process. Megatron detected the theft and used Blackarachnia as a distraction while he remotely inserted his own programming into the cell. The two spiders later took part in an attempt to prevent Tigatron from escaping the Predacon base, and were squished by a boulder Dinobot had set up. They were relatively uninjured and able to haul their damaged comrades back to the ship. {{storylink|Before the Storm}} The two spiders teamed up again, infiltrating the Maximal base and disabling Rhinox and Dinobot while the other Maximals were busy with the latest alien construct to appear. They became aware that the planet's second moon had just been revealed as an artificial, alien ''doomsday weapon'' in disguise, with Tarantulas remarking it was "the beginning of the end" for the planet. {{storylink|Other Voices, Part 1}} In the cargo hold, Tarantulas used the transwarp cell and a stasis pod to construct a ship, but was interrupted by Inferno, who torched the spider. Fortunately, Blackarachnia entered Tarantulas's mind to obtain the information to complete the escape ship, and he was able to set up a permanent neural link between the two Predacons. {{storylink|Other Voices, Part 2}}

[[File:ComingFuzors1 Tarantulas lives.jpg|thumb|upright=1.55|A new look, and he didn't even have to [[Spider-Man|sell out]] to [[Iron Man|Tony Stark]] for it!]]
When the [[quantum surge]] caused by the "second moon's" destruction knocked out all of the Transformers on the planet, Tarantulas's body was upgraded to a [[Transmetal]] form, and he forced Blackarachnia to drag it from the Maximal base, even getting her to ignore Megatron's command to stay and fight the Maximals. {{storylink|Aftermath}} With Blackarachnia's hard work and some serious-looking electrical arc generators, Tarantulas was restored to life. Megatron soon called him to the battlefield, so he left Blackarachnia to root around in their leader's computer files: by this point, the loss of the "moon" and the damages to the planet had revealed it to be ''prehistoric Earth'' all along... {{storylink|Coming of the Fuzors (Part 1)}}

Using his new cycle mode, Tarantulas quickly reached the Maximals' position. During the fight, he kept in contact with her, until a shot by Dinobot put him temporarily out of commission. After he came around, Blackarachnia reported that she'd failed to get the data he needed. The Predacons were soon routed by the resurrection of Optimus Primal, and forced to return to base. There, Megatron and Tarantulas questioned Blackarachnia, only to be told the vital data had been lost. Neither of them believed her, but didn't call her out. {{storylink|Coming of the Fuzors (Part 2)}}

With his old lair destroyed by the Planet Buster, Tarantulas was fortuitous in that Megatron assigned him with Blackarachnia and [[Quickstrike (BW)|Quickstrike]] to check out a cave filled with energon. He quickly surmised that it would make an excellent new lair, and attempted to get his two comrades interested in going it alone. Blackarachnia was more interested in getting rid of the neural link the two of them shared, and cracked an energon crystal, sending feedback through the link, to force him to sever it. By a fortunate coincidence, the three Predacons were soon attacked by [[Silverbolt (BW)|Silverbolt]] and Rattrap, and during the battle Tarantulas was able to convincingly fake the destruction of the cave, allowing him to utilize it as his own lair. {{storylink|Tangled Web}} When Dinobot defected to the Predacon side, Tarantulas offered to verify his programming, but Megatron decided it wouldn't be a very good idea to let Tarantulas into Dinobot's processor. {{storylink|Maximal, No More}}

[[File:OtherVisits1 Tarantulas beast mode.jpg|left|upright=1.2|thumb|Downside: everything tastes like feet now.]]
Back in his lair, Tarantulas's instruments detected the aliens again, and he rushed off to the site. He arrived shortly after Tigatron and [[Airazor (BW)|Airazor]] had been abducted, and zapped Cheetor, but was forced to retreat when more Maximals arrived. He visited Megatron, claiming to no longer be under the tyrant's command, but willing to help. The Predacons returned to the alien site to set up equipment, during which Blackarachnia revealed that she had learned through the broken neural link that Tarantulas hated the aliens. {{storylink|Other Visits (Part 1)}} Megatron, Quickstrike, and Tarantulas recovered quickly from the energy wave put out by the new [[Metal Hunter|alien construct]], and after Tarantulas's [[refractive web]] was activated, the trio ventured inside. Once Megatron had control of the construct, he terminated his alliance with Tarantulas, dropping the Predacon from a great height. Infuriated, Tarantulas helped the Maximals attack the construct, infiltrating it along with Rattrap, and sabotaging the transwarp cells which Megatron installed, causing the ship to explode. {{storylink|Other Visits (Part 2)}}

Though a bug planted on Megatron's chair, Tarantulas learned that Blackarachnia had been sent to recover a new protoform, and took the opportunity to threaten her to try and extract the information he suspected she'd gained from Megatron's computers. Unfortunately for him, Silverbolt stepped in and defended Blackarachnia, shortly before an energon explosion separated everyone. Though Tarantulas found the stasis pod, [[Rampage (BW)|its contents]] found him, and his body parts were spread liberally over a wide area. {{storylink|Bad Spark}} Dinobot later tracked down Tarantulas in an attempt to find out what Megatron's latest scheme was. Though Tarantulas didn't know, Dinobot forced him to act as transport, and they soon found Megatron preparing to torch a valley fill of [[Protohuman]]s. Tarantulas took advantage of Dinobot's distraction to shoot the Maximal, only for Dinobot to drop a boulder on him. {{storylink|Code of Hero}}

[[File:Agenda3 Tarantulas button push.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Tarantulas presses the History Eraser Button.]]
Alerted by the [[transwarp wavefront]], the Tripredacus Council sent covert agent [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] to capture Megatron. The former Decepticon led the Maximals to apprehend Megatron, and Tarantulas assisted by taking down the ''Darksyde''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> defense system. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part 1)}} Megatron, much to his indignation, was later informed by Ravage that the spider was a lieutenant in the Predacon Secret Police; Tarantulas joined in the diss by laughing over a comm-screen at his former boss. Tarantulas was able to instruct the Maximals in the location of a stash of energon crystals that Megatron had hidden. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part 2)}} When Ravage was persuaded to change sides by the Predacon leader, Tarantulas appeared to come too, manning the [[transwarp cruiser]]'s weapons systems for an attack on the ''Axalon''. Alas, Rattrap chewed his way into the ship and tossed a couple of [[Fusion weaponry#Fusion grenade|bomb]]s at Tarantulas, which stuck to his hands before exploding. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part III)}}

Tarantulas survived, though, and was quickly put back together by his [[arachnoid]]s. He was repaired in time to witness the destruction of the ''Axalon''. {{storylink|Optimal Situation}} He was soon seen back at the Predacon base, working under Megatron's command once again with no mention of his former secession. {{storylink|Cutting Edge}} However, around this time he was also working on another scheme: restoring the ''[[Nemesis (G1)|Nemesis]]'', the flagship of the [[Decepticon]] fleet! At some point, he'd found it lying at the bottom of the ocean, and was ensuring it would not only fly again but had a Predacon control console and a transwarp cell that could take it back to Cybertron... {{storylink|Nemesis Part 1}}

He battled the Maximals alongside Megatron's [[cyber raptor]]s, taking the opportunity to try out his new Transmetal [[cyber venom]] to great success, though he was stomped on by a cyber raptor once the Maximals worked out how to destroy their controls. {{storylink|Cutting Edge}} He assisted in the construction of Megatron's [[disruptor cannon]], suggesting that they abduct an early human to complete the device when the other Predacons were unable to get too close to it due to the unstable power source. While the cannon was completed by [[Una]], she managed to use her knowledge of levers to tip a piece of heavy equipment on him. Though he survived that, Una had taken the cannon's stablizer crystal, and it exploded in the Predacons' faces when they tried to use it. {{storylink|Go with the Flow}}

[[File:CrossingRubicon Tarantulas fires on Silverbolt.jpg|thumb|left|260px Pew Pew!]]
When the Maximals attempted to remove Blackarachnia's shell program, he revealed to Megatron that he had included "certain safeguards" that guaranteed she would not survive, and joined the other Predacons in an attack on the Maximals that was meant to disrupt the attempted shell removal. He fired the missile which knocked the Maximals' power off-line at a crucial instant, seemingly bringing an end to his "treacherous creation". Enraged by the death of his beloved, [[Silverbolt (BW)|Silverbolt]] attempted to kill the scientist, but was thwarted by [[Rampage (BW)|Rampage]], who was later defeated by a revived—and [[Transmetal]]ized—Blackarachnia. {{storylink|Crossing the Rubicon}}

Tarantulas participated in the Predacons' next attempt to retake the [[Ark (G1)|Ark]], utilising his latest invention to allow Quickstrike to take control of Optimus Primal... and ''that'' was when he made his move, at last. He manipulated [[Quickstrike (BW)|Quickstrike]] into throwing Megatron into the nearby lava while he himself set the Ark's engines to overload. Megatron survived his lava-dunking, gaining a new body in the process. However, he had lost his patience. While he'd tolerated Tarantulas's treachery, he could not tolerate incompetence. Tarantulas survived his punishment and fled back to his lair. {{storylink|Master Blaster}} This appears to have ''not'' been what Quickstrike thought he was going to do, and neither he nor Megatron had any idea why he'd planned to destroy the whole Ark.

[[File:TarantulasVok SignOfTheCross.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|"Save me, X-Men!"]]
Tarantulas was left ranting in his lair about how the Tripredacus Council's plans were wrecked, while his systems monitored the ''Nemesis'' (which was finished by this point). However, his rant and Nemesis plans were interrupted when the aliens—now revealed to be called the [[Vok]]—sent their emissary [[Tigerhawk]] arrived on Earth. Tarantulas let him take out the Predacons, then used his arachnoids to disable and capture him. Tarantulas intended to force the all-powerful being into his servitude by drawing the Vok influences out of his body and reprogramming him, and then have him obliterate the Ark: he cheerfully told the emissary that as he nor the Council had Autobot or Decepticon origins, they'd survive the resulting timestorm, turn Cybertron into a universe-conquering force, and one day even conquer the Vok themselves!

The scheme backfired, however, as his energy beam device expelled two ''actual Vok'' out of Tigerhawk. The formless spectres attempted to take over Tarantulas' body. Panicking, he made a religious sign to ward them off and then opened fire on them—a futile gesture that merely served to spin the energy device around 'til its rays were blasting him and his lab equipment. Overloaded by the beams, Tarantulas exploded, leaving nothing behind but his boots. The remainder of his equipment detonated seconds later, blowing the lair to rubble. Cheetor managed to rescue the inert Tigerhawk, and Tarantulas was presumed destroyed. {{storylink|Other Victories}}

Megatron knew that Tarantulas must have had some schemes on the go that the Predacons could pick up and use, and had his men search the ruins of the spider's lair. During this, he offhandedly referred to him as "[[Unicron's Spawn]]". He ended up discovering and using the working ''Nemesis''. {{storylink|Nemesis Part 1}}
{{-}}

====Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity====
=====Yokohama Decepticon Secret Base=====
[[File:Yokohama Unicron Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|100px]]
As part of a plot to destroy the [[2014]] [[Transformers Expo]] in [[Yokohama]] and the Cybertronian artifacts within, Taratulas, working on [[Unicron]]'s behalf, secretly granted [[Predacon computer|NAVI-ko]] a new body and intelligence regarding [[Yokohama Convoy|Nemesis Prime]]. True to plan, NAVI-ko was sent to activate the clone and guide him to the Transformers Expo. However, thanks to Nemesis Prime's inherent sense of justice, the plan failed. {{storylink|Yokohama Decepticon Secret Base}}

=====''Cloud''=====
{{charstubfiction|{{storylink|Wild (Cloud)|Wild}} {{storylink|TFC-A03}}}}

=====''Beast Wars Diorama Story''=====
[[File:BWDiorama Motorarm Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|left|A ravenous, sinister fiend... and Tarantulas.]]
Sometime after Starscream's arrival to prehistoric Earth, Tarantulas was confronted in battle by a time-displaced [[Motorarm (BWII)|Motorarm]], who fended off the Predacon with his Beetle Claw attack. Tarantulas was not present when the Autobots from [[Movie (franchise)|another universe]] and Maximals combined all of their energies to attack a team of Predacons and Decepticons. {{storylink|Motorarm Chapter}}
{{-}}

====3H comics====
Tarantulas was the inventor of the [[mind-drill]]. [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] "borrowed" it from him to get information out of [[Antagony (BW)|Antagony]]. {{storylink|Herald, Covenant, Schism, Paradox|Herald}}

[[File:Primevaldawn2 tarantulas matrix.jpg|thumb|Further proving the maxim: "If you want to steal the Matrix, you basically can."]]
Following the Beast Wars, Tarantulas's body returned to life, reanimated by the Vok powers he'd previously absorbed. The undead Tarantulas, along with a rebuilt Ravage (as [[Ravage (G1)|Tripredacus Agent]]), nurtured new troops to life through enigmatic means, growing [[Razorclaw (BW)|Razorclaw]] and [[Iguanus (BW)|Iguanus]] in tubes. {{storylink|Primeval Dawn Part 1}} {{storylink|Primeval Dawn II}}

The remaining Vok anticipated Tarantulas's plan to destroy the rest of them, take their power, and fashion the timestream to his desires, and so they assembled an army of their own consisting of [[Primal Prime]], [[Airazor (BW)|Airazor]], and [[Tigatron]]. Tarantulas met this opposition in battle, overwhelmed them, and triumphantly ripped the [[Matrix of Leadership]] from Primal Prime's chest. {{storylink|Primeval Dawn Part 2}}

Wounded critically, the Maximals withdrew to the Ark, while Tarantulas and his Predacons returned to his lair, where he directed them in the construction of a transwarp portal. Upon completion, Tarantulas planned to bring his stolen prize to his master, Unicron. Since his troops were getting restless, he promised them they could assault the Ark once they finished construction. Tarantulas was true to his word, and as Ravage led the Predacons against the Maximals, Unicron's spawn tried to stabilize the portal and prepared the Matrix for transport. {{storylink|Primeval Dawn Part 3}}

{{note|[[3H Productions]] dissolved before this storyline could be completed. Based on the subsequent ''Wreckers'' and ''[[Transformers: Universe (comic)|Universe]]'' storylines, it can be assumed that the Matrix of Leadership was restored to Optimus Prime's body at the end of this altercation, the Maximals were triumphant and used Tarantulas's portal to return home to Cybertron, and that Tarantulas somehow fled to Unicron.}}

After using the [[Divine Light]] to access [[Primus]]'s power, [[Cryotek (Universe)|Cryotek]] reanimated several [[Sharkticon (G1)|Sharkticon]] corpses into facsimiles of [[Megatron (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Megatron]]'s old subordinates, including one of Tarantulas. {{storylink|Wreckers: Finale Part II}}

[[File:Escape-Tarantulas.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|Tarantulus {{sic}} basically just never dies.]]

A year after the [[Great Reformatting]], the [[Unicron virus|influence]] of [[Unicron]] swayed an abducted [[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]] to the side of darkness. As she was escorted by [[Tankor (BM)|Tankor]] and [[Reptilion]] into the heart of the Chaos Bringer, she was surprised to see Tarantulas (still in his undead body) greet her as she joined the ranks of the [[Minion of Unicron|Minions of Unicron]]. She hissed with disgust while Tarantulas noted that it was just like old times. {{storylink|Escape (Universe)|Escape}}

Tarantulas had learned that [[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]] had been assembling the [[Child of Primus|Children of Primus]] to counter Unicron's Minions, and so he sent Blackarachnia on a mission to [[Primax 797.18 Epsilon|her home Cybertron]] to sever the link between the Transformers and [[Primus]] by invading [[Vector Sigma]]'s chamber and destroying Alpha Trion. He gave Blackarachnia a swarm of [[Piranacon (Universe)|Piranacon]]s and directions to the chamber through a structural weak point near the [[Rust Sea]]. {{storylink|Homecoming (Universe)|Homecoming}}
{{-}}

====''Transformers Legends'' anthology====
The [[Megatron (G1)|original Megatron]], now inside the mind of [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] after the latter planted the former's spark inside his body, berated the Predacon leader's failures—in particular, being led astray time and again by such treacherous subordinates as Tarantulas. {{storylink|A Meeting of Minds}}

====IDW ''Beast Wars'' comics====
One account states that when Tarantulas was born at the [[Pit (facility)|Pit]], a glitch in the process granted him insight into the fact that an alien force was manipulating the Predacons for its ends. Thus, Tarantulas became obsessed with whatever this force was. {{storylink|Transformers: Beast Wars Sourcebook|Beast Wars Sourcebook #4}}

Another account stated that Tarantulas was one of the [[Tripredacus Council]]'s covert agents, working for them since before the Great Wars began to be recorded. As a key member of the council's schemes, Tarantulas helped develop the combiner technology that led to [[Predacus]]. {{storylink|#Combiner Wars|''Combiner Wars'' Tarantulas bio}}

Before his travels off-world, Tarantulas worked in tandem with the Tripredacus Council, who sought to unite Cybertron under a single, "purer" race. As the Great War drew to a close, Tarantulas received field intelligence reporting startling news: both [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]] and [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]] had died in a terrible confrontation between their forces. Though his masters weren't particularly moved by this turn of events, [[Megatron (BW)|a renegade]] within their army's ranks was. It became clear to the council that this upstart would resume the offensive against the enemy forces despite being ordered not to, and so Tarantulas was sent back out into the field to try and prevent any further complications from arising out of the situation.

While Tarantulas was away, the Council's secret base was discovered, and due to an [[Axalon (BW)|exploration vessel]] accidentally getting in its path, the transmatter bomb the Council had attempted to launch, to reformat all of Cybertron at once, was deflected from its proper course. Ram Horn, Cicadacon, Sea Clamp, and Ravage all met up with Tarantuals in the field, and confronted the gestalt [[Predaking (G1)|Predaking]], who was among the Decepticons causing dissension in their ranks. Tarantulas and his allies isolated him on the battlefield, and merged into their own gestalt form, [[Predacus]], to slay him.

Tarantulas next met with the upstart now calling himself "Megatron", and told him that the transmatter raining down on the planet was the result of a doomsday weapon of Galvatron's going off, triggered by the mad tyrant's death. He next informed Megatron that Predaking has comitted suicide out of shame for his involvement in Galvatron's plans. The Tripredacus Council had hoped these lies would be enough to dissuade Megatron from continuing hostilities, but this was not the case, and so moved on to plan B: sniping Megatron with a stun beam, and surrendering to the Autobots themselves.

For the "great risks" Tarantulas took towards the pursuit of peace, he was granted amnesty after the signing of the Pax Cybertronia. He had a hearty laugh at the expense of the Autobots' gullibility over this. {{storylink|Dawn of the Predacus}}

During his time on Earth, Tarantulas discovered the force he was obsessed with since birth was the [[Vok]]. {{storylink|Transformers: Beast Wars Sourcebook|Beast Wars Sourcebook #4}} He also programmed the Predacons' mobile fortress, the [[Arachnid]], utilizing his own personality programs to give it some form of sentience, accompanied by Tarantulas's own tendency for cruelty. {{storylink|Transformers: Beast Wars Sourcebook|Beast Wars Sourcebook #1}}

While [[Magmatron]] surveyed the timestream, he witnessed several key events during the Beast Wars. Among these was Tarantulas in his original "beast" body skulking in his lair. {{storylink|The Gathering issue 1|The Gathering #1}}

====SD BotCon====
Tarantulas joined Ravage at a bar to [[Dawn of the Predacus|laugh maniacally over drinks]], only for the pair to be approached by [[Beetle]] after their fourth outburst; the pair were being kicked out since everyone else was tired of their cackling. Thankfully, Tarantulas knew of a place where they could laugh to their hearts' content... a children's ball pit! {{storylink|SD SG#SDBC1|SD BotCon #1}}

====''Timelines''====
[[File:TheftOfGoldenDisk-Tarantulas.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.66|What y'wanna do? Wanna be hackers? Code crackers? Slackers? Wastin' time with all the chatroom yakkers? WHAT?]]
Tarantulas decoded the information on the [[Golden Disk (Voyager)|Golden Disk]] which had been freshly stolen by Megatron. He thought this was quite hilarious, but then, he thinks that about everything. {{storylink|Theft of the Golden Disk}}

[[File:Tarantulasdawn.jpg|thumb|See? A Planet X key in the corner of the pic. He's working for Unicron! Get him!]]
As [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] and his rogue band of Predacons escaped [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] in their stolen ship, the ''[[Darksyde (BW)|Darksyde]]'', Tarantulas was in charge of scanning the disk for a desired set of coordinates. While Megatron was not watching, he was in secret communication with [[Cicadacon|General Cicadacon]] of the [[Tripredacus Council]].

Using the decoded coordinates, the ''Darksyde'' opened a [[transwarp]] portal, which it and the [[Axalon (BW)|''Axalon'']] passed through. {{storylink|Dawn of Future's Past}}

Two weeks after [[Airazor (BW)|Airazor]] was reborn on [[Earth]], Tarantulas fought to defend an orbital weapon from the Maximals. The launching pad was destroyed by Airazor. {{storylink|The Razor's Edge}}
{{-}}

====''Wings Universe''====
[[File:Tarantulasemerges-ACommonFoe.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1 "Well, howdy! Just scratching the wall, don't mind me!"]]]
One of four mysterious protoforms found by [[Sky-Byte (RID)#Wings Universe|Sky-Byte]] in the laboratory of [[Jhiaxus (G2)#Wings Universe|Jhiaxus]] while trying to save his former collaborator's clones from the Autobots, {{storylink|A Common Foe}} Tarantulas and [[Tripredacus Council|the other three]] pledged allegiance to the Predacons in suspiciously quick time.<ref name="TFSS3bio">"Tarantulas is a being without a history. In his rush to remove Jhiaxus' clones from his laboratory before the Autobots discovered its location, Sky-Byte mistakenly extracted four stasis pods of unknown origin. The emergent robots immediately declared for the Predacon cause, some might say suspiciously quickly. Of the four robots, Tarantulas has since discovered an endless fascination with experimental science, especially seeking any opportunity for vivisection."</ref>

=====''Hot Shot's Bot Thoughts''=====
The Tarantulas of [[Primax 509.28 Epsilon]] was interviewed by [[Hot Shot (Armada)|Shotimus Prime]], who seemed determined to prove that Tarantulas was also [[Sideways (Armada)|Sideways]]. Annoyed by Shotimus's badgering, Tarantulas eventually resorted to pulling the Matrix out of Shotimus's chest, reverting him to Hot Shot, and then hitting him repeatedly with it. {{storylink|Hot Shot's Bot Thoughts}}

====Waspscream continuity====
In [[Primax 208.06 Zeta]], Tarantulas joined [[Waspinator (BW)|Waspscream]]'s successful coup against Megatron. Waspscream then convinced Tarantulas to decode Megatron's Golden Disk by promising to make Tarantulas his lieutenant upon returning to Cybertron and deposing the Tripredacus Council. Unfortunately en route, Megatron escaped, conquered Cybertron with a [[transformation virus]], and turned the bodies of Cybertron's populace into [[Vehicon (BM)|Vehicon]]s. Upon arrival, Waspscream's crewmembers who had [[transmetal]] forms managed to survive the virus and escape Megatron's clutches, eventually finding their way to the [[Oracle (BM)|Oracle]], who granted them [[technorganic]] forms. Waspscream's Predacons waged a valiant Spark War against the Vehicons, eventually achieving victory. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/08/16}}

===''Beast Wars Metals'' manga===
[[File:TarantulasMangaMouth01.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Tarantulas raises an army of mannequins to strike terror into his foes.]]

Following the [[Quantum surge]], Tarantulas was upgraded into a [[Transmetal]]. Scheming with [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] within their floating island base, [[Hindenburg]], Tarantulas developed a plan to revive the deceased [[Optimus Primal]] as a [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] slave. Recovering Primal's mindless, raging body, Tarantulas staged a strange voodoo ceremony (complete with boiling cauldron). As Megatron pricked his finger and prepared to use his mutated blood to turn Primal's rampaging body into his slave, the spark of Optimus Primal returned to it just in the nick of time. As Primal turned into a Transmetal, Tarantulas began to celebrate, convinced that his plan had worked out better than he had thought, unaware of what was really going on. In fact, he was ''so'' convinced that Primal was now a Predacon slave, that he ordered the monkey to give him a shoulder massage. Optimus Primal proceeded to knock Tarantulas's block off. {{storylink|Beast Wars Metals issue 1|Beast Wars Metals #1}}

Tarantulas pulled himself together and confronted Tigatron, only to be promptly sliced in half. {{storylink|Beast Wars Metals issue 2|Beast Wars Metals #2}}

Undeterred, he taped himself back together and planted an [[arachnoid]] in Tigatron which gave Tarantulas control of the Maximal samurai's mind and body. {{storylink|Beast Wars Metals issue 3|Beast Wars Metals #3}} Airazor linked her mind to Tigatron's in an attempt to free her beloved and while her body fought Tigatron, Airazor's consciousness fought Tarantulas and his virtual minions. Ultimately, with Blackarachnia's help, Tigatron's mind was freed, though Airazor died in the process, killed by the mind-controlled Tigatron. Optimus Primal arrived and promptly stomped Tarantulas to death and blew his body to pieces. {{storylink|Beast Wars Metals issue 4|Beast Wars Metals #4}}

Shortly afterward, the energies from sparks freed from an obliterated [[Rampage (BW)|Rampage]] brought Tarantulas back to life as a mindless zombie. He fought Optimus Primal but was destroyed for good by Primal's rocket-fists. {{storylink|Beast Wars Metals issue 5|Beast Wars Metals #5}}

===''Transformers Legends'' anthology===
When [[human]] archaeologists uncovered a cave filled with primitive language, [[Mini-Con]] [[Laserbeak (Armada)|Laserbeak]] translated it for them. The markings told of a time when the Maximals and Predacons crash-landed on prehistoric Earth, though the stranded Transformers were seen by the protohumans as gods. The "spider-god" and the "[[Waspinator (BW)|wasp-god]]," under instruction from their [[Megatron (BW)|leader]], enslaved the humans for the purposes of excavating "[[Energon|glowing rose crystals]]." Eventually, a "[[Silverbolt (BW)|wolf-god]]" came, and had a fierce battle with the spider, allowing the captive humans to flee. The spider was defeated by the wolf, and then buried underground in a cave-in. {{storylink|Fire in the Dark}}

====Ask Vector Prime====
In [[Aurex 1104.30-JH Zeta]], Tarantulas had his own agenda on prehistoric Earth. He deployed his [[Arachnoid]]s across the globe to search for traces of [[Super Energon]], accumulating a large cache of the powerful substance. Optimus Primal sacrificed himself to hijack Tarantulas's makeshift craft and destroy it in orbit, causing a [[Quantum surge|Super Energon Transwarp Explosion]] which granted a [[Transmetal]] upgrade to many participants in the conflict as well as created the [[Fuzor]]s. Later, Megatron attempted to use Tarantulas's secret experiments in a last-ditch effort to turn the tide, but ultimately, the Maximals emerged victorious in the war for the [[Mini-Con]]s. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/08/13}}

===''Transformers Legends'' comic===
Tarantulas sneakily browsed the toys for sale at [[Transformers Celebration 2014]]. {{storylink|Legends Bonus Vol.}} The head of [[Tera-Kura Co.]]'s science department and an expert at building robots, he he was responsible for production of their [[Nightbird (G1)|Nightbird]] clones. One day he was approached by the [[Decepticon]] [[Headmaster (technology)|Headmasters]] of [[OG World|another universe]], who offered him use of their technology in exchange for his help in building them new [[transtector]]s. Realizing he could use this tech to conquer the [[Legends Universe]] for himself, Tarantulas accepted. {{storylink|Headmasters Chapter Prologue}} Once a partnership between the Decepticons and Tera-Kura had been formed, he used data stolen from the [[Autobot]] Headmasters to build a body for [[Skullcruncher (G1)|Skullcruncher]] as well as the drone [[Batora]]. Seeking to eliminate the Autobots, his rivals on the technology market, he and [[Weirdwolf (G1)|Weirdwolf]] then sent out Skullcruncher to lure out and destroy them, but the Headmaster was defeated. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 22|Bonus Edition Vol. 22}} Tarantulas's boss, [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]], chewed them out over their violent approach, leading to a disgruntled Tarantulas building a body for Megatron that would turn him into the destructive [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]]. In the end, Megatron resisted the body and taught them a lesson, though Tarantulas pointed out that as he'd planned, Galvatron's destruction had increased Tera-Kura's sales. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 23|Bonus Edition Vol. 23}}

Not ones to give up, Tarantulas and Weirdwolf had [[Mindwipe (G1)|Mindwipe]] hypnotize Megatron back into Galvatron only for [[Blurr (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Blurr]] to undo the spell. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 25|Bonus Edition Vol. 25}} He was present at the office when [[Scourge (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Scourge]] attempted to take over Tera-Kura. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 26|Bonus Edition Vol. 26}} When a group of [[Nightbeat (G1)|mass-produced Headmasters]] from [[Axalon Trading Company|Autobot Axalon Trading Company]] started stealing Decepticon transtectors on the orders of [[Rewind (G1)|Rewind]], Tarantulas responded by activating the Galvatron body's mask, briefly brainwashing the unfortunate [[Rattrap (BW)|Rattrap]] into being evil. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 28|Bonus Edition Vol. 28}} Since his Megatron plan wasn't working out, Tarantulas chose to enter the Galvatron body and pilot it himself, using it to defeat Megatron and use his head mode as a soccer ball. Though he was defeated by [[Wheelie (G1)|Wheelie]] and [[Shūta Gō]], he was happy with the data he'd gathered about controlling a transtector. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 29|Bonus Edition Vol. 29}} He then finished a new transtector for Weirdwolf, shocking its owner by making it sentient (and revealing that Skullcruncher's had been so all along). {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 30|Bonus Edition Vol. 30}}

Tarantulas was initially gleeful when Tera-Kura purchased [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]], but quickly grew unsatisfied and wanted control of ''both'' Metroplex and Autobot Axalon's new base, [[Fortress Maximus (G1)|Maximus]]. He had Weirdwolf infiltrate Maximus and take it for Tera-Kura by using the [[Master Sword]], but the plan failed when Weirdwolf was unable to control the giant transtector's power. Using what he'd learned from piloting Galvatron, Tarantulas took things into his own hands by taking direct control of Metroplex and having him attack Maximus. The battle between Metroplex and Fortress Maximus ended with Fortress destroying Tarantulas's control device, and the scientist was arrested for his crimes. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 31|Bonus Edition Vol. 31}} He eventually broke out of jail and encountered [[Astrotrain (G1)|Astrotrain]], who agreed to hide him from the law in exchange for a transtector of his own. Tarantulas then found himself pressed to mass-produce these bodies for Astrotrain's master plan, and once he was done and expected to get along with his "fellow jailbird", Astrotrain promptly deemed him unnecessary and turned on him, sending him fleeing. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 40|Bonus Edition Vol. 40}} He next found refuge with Weirdwolf's faction of Decepticons, only to again be press-ganged into building bodies, this time for [[Full-Tilt]] and [[Trypticon (G1)|Trypticon]]. {{storylink|LG-43 Trypticon Project Chapter}}

===Ask Vector Prime===
To the best of [[Vector Prime]]'s knowledge, Tarantulas and [[Sideways (Armada)|Sideways]] did not think of themselves as relatives. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/05/15}}

[[Sideways (Armada)|Sideways]] claimed he showed up at the last second to help win [[#3H comics|the battle against Primal Prime]] but only referred to Ravage being there, not Tarantulas. {{storylink|Ask_Vector_Prime/Sideways_src#July_6.2C_2015|Ask Sideways, 2015/06/06}} He also claimed to know the secret origins of Tarantulas and the Tripredacus Council. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Sideways, 2015/06/28}}

===IDW Generation 1 continuity===
[[File:SinsoftheWreckers3-Mesothulas.jpg|left|thumb|250px]]

Mesothulas was a non-affiliated scientist who covertly worked for [[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]] during the early stages of the Autobot/Decepticon war. Mesothulas saw their relationship as symbiotic -— Prowl's imagination would feed into Mesothulas's desire to make the impossible real and vice versa. Their partnership resulted in many frightening advancements, such as [[stasis bullet]]s, [[Spark extractor|spark extraction]], [[Decepti-bomb]]s, and [[Aequitas]] itself. What he considered his greatest success, however, was the creation of artificial Transformer life—[[Ostaros]]. Prowl eventually began to have doubts about the ethics involved with Mesothulas's inventions, especially after the scientist unveiled his latest creation: a prison dimension Mesothulas dubbed the "[[Noisemaze]]". {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 3|Sins of the Wreckers #3}}

Unable to let Mesothulas continue his increasingly depraved experiments, Prowl asked [[Impactor (G1)|Impactor]] to dispose of Mesothulas and his creations by pushing the scientist into his own Noisemaze and destroying the entire contents of his workshop. The deed was done, although neither Prowl nor Impactor could bring themselves to put down Ostaros. Instead, Prowl falsified a new identity for him as the Autobot "[[Springer (G1)|Springer]]". {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 3|Sins of the Wreckers #3}} {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 5|Sins of the Wreckers #5}}

[[File:SinsoftheWreckers3 Ultra Energon.jpg|thumb|right|250px|''But then one day he went to that science lab'' ''That mutated spider came down'']]

Mesothulas was prepared for such an occurrence, though, having a personal jumpgate built into his body. Even still, the disorienting effects of the Noisemaze made it centuries before Mesothulas could remember and put it to use. Returning to his lab to find it empty, Mesothulas decided to follow where [[Shockwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Shockwave]] trode and went to [[Earth]]. There, he found and refined a sample of [[Ore-13|Ultra-Energon]] into [[obtenteum]], a super-fuel he used to power his future inventions. Inspired by the native wildlife, Mesothulas developed [[Chimeracon|perfect bio-disguises]] which nearly completely masked a Cybertronian's presence. One creature in particular, the spider, attracted Mesothulas's attention. He modified his own body with Chimeracon technology to gain a tarantula form and renamed himself "Tarantulas". {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 3|Sins of the Wreckers #3}}

At some point after adopting his new [[alternate mode]], Tarantulas kicked off the incident that would later be known as the "[[Roadbuster affair]]" - shrinking down to a tiny form, Tarantulas crawled into [[Roadbuster (G1)|Roadbuster]]'s ear and began whispering to the Autobot, convincing him to do terrible things to his recruits. Roadbuster assumed that he was hearing the voice of [[Mortilus]] and cheerfully started torturing and murdering his cadets on "Mortilus's" orders, while Tarantulas used the [[spark]]s Roadbuster unwittingly harvested to test the Chimeracon process. The Autobots found out just in time to save [[Hubcap (G1)|Hubcap]]. By that point Tarantulas had already fled the scene and everyone assumed that poor old Roadbuster had just gone round the bend. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 4|Sins of the Wreckers #4}}

Needing some real muscle on his side, Tarantulas became the patron of the anarchist group, [[Mayhem Attack Squad|Mayhem]], supplying them with similar bio-disguises. Meanwhile, he turned his attention to building a laboratory complex, the [[Tor]], within the Noisemaze. He also managed to turn Hubcap to his side, serving as a mole within the [[Autobot]] ranks whose [[Outlier]] skills let Tarantulas uncover Prowl's secrets, including the data containing Aequitas's proclamations. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 3|Sins of the Wreckers #3}} Even though Tarantulas admitted having been the voice of "Mortilus" that drove Roadbuster mad, the terrified Hubcap went with it in the hope of justice and getting a stronger body for himself. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 4|Sins of the Wreckers #4}}

[[File:SinsoftheWreckers3-Tarantulasspider.jpg|left|thumb|300px|''Oh, and now Meso crawls over everyone's walls'' ''And he's swingin' all over town'']]

With Prowl a wanted fugitive after his disastrous exploits on [[Caminus]], nobody noticed when Mesothulas ordered Mayhem to abduct Prowl. The disgraced tactician found himself in the Noisemaze, greeted by Tarantulas. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 1|Sins of the Wreckers #1}} Tarantulas suspended Prowl in his webs and presented Aequitas trial data, stolen from [[Verity Carlo]], as collateral for an open conversation between the two. {{Storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 2|Sins of the Wreckers #2}} With the greatest of anticipation, Tarantulas unveiled his new form to Prowl, who was horrified at his old collaborator's metamorphosis. Prowl suspected Tarantulas intended to use the war crimes data from Aequitas to simply blackmail him, but Tarantulas had more complex desires. Honestly, Tarantulas merely wished to work with Prowl again, to recreate the symbiosis of their original possibly-more-than-professional relationship. When Prowl still refused, he was placed in the company of his would-be rescuers: Verity, [[Springer (G1)|Springer]], [[Roadbuster (G1)|Roadbuster]], and [[Arcee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Arcee]], their most shameful, damning thoughts opened bare to him thanks to Tarantulas's new invention, [[Impetus]]. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 3|Sins of the Wreckers #3}}

Tarantulas explained to Verity that her current sickly condition was a result of exposure to the Aequitas supercomputer back on [[Garrus-9]]. Tarantulas attempted to force Prowl into Impetus, only for Prowl to try and talk him out of it, offering to tell him about Ostaros's ''true'' fate and lying that he had killed the artificial Transformer that day in the lab. Before Tarantluas could go through with his plan, Kup Impactor, and Guzzle crashed the Noisemaze with [[Debris]], threatening to tear the pocket dimension apart. Tarantulas ordered his Chimeracons to counterattack and Hubcap to transmit the Aequitas data across the galaxy, only for Hubcap to turn on his employer and free his Autobot prisoners. Arcee, Springer, and Roadbuster ganged up on the spider-bot, but he proved too powerful. Roadbuster managed to temporarily dispatch him by transforming into vehicle mode and ''ramming'' Tarantulas, sending both of them flying out the window. Tarantulas survived the fall by shrinking and crawling inside Roadbuster's head, just like old times.

[[File:K-PLUTCH.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The itsy-bitsy spider blew up Roadbuster's head.]]

Tarantulas taunted his old victim one last time... then expanded back to his full size, blowing open Roadbuster's head from the inside out.

As the surviving Autobots regrouped at the Tor, intending to destroy the entire complex, Tarantulas arrived, promising that before the day was done he would do "something weird" to everyone. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 4|Sins of the Wreckers #4}} Using mass displacement to enlarge his spider mode to massive size, Tarantulas used a retinal scanner to activate a final contingency plan: shrinking the Tor itself down to pocket size so that he can safely transport the facility out of the collapsing dimension. Tarantulas taunted Arcee, Verity, and Prowl, gloating that he'd healed Verity's illness for no reason other than to one-up Prowl. The mad scientist continued to grow as he ranted about his need for revenge on Prowl, prompting Prowl to reveal to his old friend that ''Impactor'' was the one to blame for the destruction of his lab. Realizing this, Tarantulas demanded to know what had become of Ostaros, and seconds later made the connection between Springer's voice and the fate of his creation. Thoughts of revenge momentarily forgotten, Tarantulas attempted to reunite with Ostaros, only to be halted by Arcee and Impactor. Arcee severed Tarantulas's beast mode head, using it to trip the retinal scanner and halt the Tor's contraction.

Having survived the loss of his beast mode head, Tarantulas managed to find Springer, earning himself a punch in the face from the green Autobot. His words were garbled by the energies of the Noisemaze, preventing any kind of meaningful dialogue between creator and creation. The pair struggled with one another as Springer repeatedly stabbed Tarantulas, neither of them able to speak or hear each other. Seconds later, Impactor detonated the entire Noisemaze, destroying almost all of Tarantulas's creations and perhaps the mad scientist with them.

Back in [[Nome]], Verity and Springer watched the northern lights, while a tiny spider spun a web in Springer's wheel-well... {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 5|Sins of the Wreckers #5}}

{{--}}

===''Beast Wars: Uprising''===
[[File:TriggerWarnings Tarantulas.jpg|right|thumb|300px|"HA HA HA! This section is not at all informative!"]]
{{charstubfiction|{{storylink|Trigger Warnings}} {{storylink|Derailment}}}}

==Games==
===''Beast Wars: Transformers'' video game continuity===
====''Beast Wars: Transformers'' video game comic====
[[File:BWgameUK-Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=0.85|Some great dialog there, Tarry.]]
Upon arriving on prehistoric Earth, the dangers of Energon radiation forced the Maximals and Predacons to take on beast alternate forms. Tarantulas picked up a tarantula in his palm and scanned it. Soon, Tarantulas spotted [[Cheetor (BW)|Cheetor]] moving in on the Predacons' crash site. Swearing revenge, Tarantulas transformed and attacked, and threatened to skin the Maximal alive. {{storylink|Beast Wars: Transformers video game advertising comic}}

====''Beast Wars: Transformers'' video game====
{{voiceactor|??? (English), ??? (Japanese)}}
[[File:BeastWarsPSX-Tarantulasstats.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.1|Sadly, there's no Eat Cheetor level.]]

Many Beast Wars combatants had managed to construct personal bases, customized to their personal tastes, due to the extended duration of the war. Tarantulas still preferred to operate out of a dark, underground lair. Tarantulas joined his fellow Predacons in battling not only the persistent Maximal resistance, but the interdimensional monsters known as the [[Skriix]].

=====Maximal campaign=====
After [[Rhinox (BW)|Rhinox]] had expanded his own personal base too close to Tarantulas's own territory, creating an opening for the Predacon to infiltrate Rhinox's personal metropolis. Tarantulas overtook Rhinox's base and reprogrammed its defenses, prompting the Maximals to retake it. The Maximal's offensive push forced Tarantulas to retreat deeper and deeper into the annexed territory, until he finally returned to his own lair. While he was in control of Rhinox's forces, however, Tarantulas had gained access to sensitive information, prompting the Maximals to follow Tarantulas back to his hide-out, and eliminate him once and for all.

=====Predacon campaign=====
Rhinox's expansion into Tarantulas's territory allowed the Predacons to infiltrate the Maximal's "Urban Area" and eliminate Rhinox. {{storylink|Beast Wars: Transformers (video game)|Beast Wars: Transformers}}

{{Note|Due to the nature of this game, a player may select various individual characters to perform the feats required in every level, and complete the game's narrative. Thus, any playable Maximal can fill the role of protagonist in Maximal Mode, and any playable Predacon can fill the role of protagonist in Predacon Mode. The various feats Tarantulas can accomplish throughout gameplay in Predacon Mode as the story protagonist are described on the [[Beast Wars: Transformers (video game)|''Beast Wars'' video game]] page.}}

===''Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals'' (N64)===
[[File:N64Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|Arboreal Camouflage Tarantulas? Blue Crusader Tarantulas?]]
{{voiceactor|[[Alec Willows]] (English), ??? (Japanese)}}

Tarantulas found a way to escape prehistoric Earth and return to Cybertron. The Beast Wars progressed in his absence for a time...

[[File:N64 Tarantulus.jpg|frame|left|Player 2 Has Entered His Stomach. Continue?]]
Then he came back, newly promoted and with an armada of Transwarp battleships under his command, out to end the Beast Wars and enforce the Tripredacus Council's will... {{storylink|Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals (N64)}}
{{note|Each character possessed an alternate ending, displayed if the game was beaten with said character. Each character has only their own ending listed on their pages, see the other characters' pages for Tarantulas's fate in those outcomes.}}

===''Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals'' (PS)===
{{voiceactor|[[Alec Willows]] (English), ??? (Japanese)}}
{{Storylink|Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals (PS)}}
{{charstubgame}}

===''Duel Fight Transformers Beast Wars''===
[[File:DuelFight Tarantulas.gif|thumb|upright=1.1]]
Megatron was capable of summoning Tarantulas forth to the battlefield during his attempts to acquire the super-powerful [[energon crystal]]. {{storylink|Duel Fight Transformers Beast Wars: Beast Warriors' Strongest Decisive Battle|Duel Fight Transformers Beast Wars}}
{{--}}

===''Transformers: Battle Tactics''===
[[File:BattleTacticsTarantulas.jpg|thumb|400px]]
Tarantulas participated in battles against a variety of opponents, both Autobots and Decepticons. Sometimes there were many of him! He appeared in three different bodies:
*''Tarantulas'' — This Super Rare character first appeared in the "Beast Wars: Episode 2" event, and could be recruited by by collecting 250 units of Cybermetal, 75 units of Transmetal, 35 event cores, and 10 cores of this character.
*''Tarantulas'' — This Epic Character was available in the August Daily Campaign and could be recruited by collecting 20 Alpha cores, 20 Beta cores, 20 Omega cores, and 10 cores of this character.
*''Tarantulas Transmetal'' — This Super Rare character was available to 2500 players during the second event of the "Transmetals: Episode 3" mini events.
{{storylink|Transformers: Battle Tactics}}
{{{!}}border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background:transparent"
{{!}}-
{{!}}style="background:transparent; border-right: 0px" valign="top"{{!}}
[[File:Battle-Tactics-Tarantulas-Timelines.jpg|thumb|400px Watch out!/Here comes the spider bike!]]
{{!}}style="background:transparent; border-right: 0px" valign="top"{{!}}
[[File:Battle-Tactics-Tarantulas-Transmetal.jpg|thumb|400px]]
{{!}}}
{{--}}

==Toys==
===Beast Wars===
[[File:BWtoy-Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|Interested in getting hog-tied with spider-butt rope? Running is the only 'no' available.]]
*'''Tarantulas''' (Deluxe, 1996/1997)
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''D-4'''
**''Accessories'': Launcher, 4 spider-leg missiles

: Part of the first wave of [[Beast Wars: Transformers (toyline)|''Beast Wars'' product]], Tarantulas transforms into an organic generic spider (''not'' a tarantula). His abdomen contains a spring-loaded missile launcher, which fires the anchor-missile kept in his spider-butt. This missile is attached by a string so he can hang from things like a real spider. The launcher can be removed and used as a [[robot mode]] weapon, using any of his front four spider-legs as missiles. Like all early Deluxe-and-up ''Beast Wars'' toys, he has two different robot mode "heads"; a robotic face and a "mutant" face. He is almost always depicted using the mutant face.

: There is a variation of this toy in the [[Hasbro]] line: Later releases (the smooth bubble) lack the yellow paint on his elbows.

: The [[TakaraTomy|Takara]] release of Tarantulas was originally identical to the Hasbro release. Later, a slightly color-altered version was released, using a brighter shade of green and a slightly darker gray. The color-altered version also replaced the blue eyes on the "robot" head and the black eyes of the "mutant" head with gold.

: This mold was used to make the first [[Blackarachnia (BW)/toys#Beast Wars|Blackarachnia toy]].

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1996/Predacon/Tarantulas/tarantulas.htm More information on Tarantulas at TFU.info]''

{{-}}{{anchor|VsDinobot}}
[[File:VS4-DinobotTarantuas.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|The classic battle of dino vs spider. We've all heard the tale.]]
*'''Brutal Showdown: Dinobot VS Tarans''' (VS pack, 1997)
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''VS-4'''
**''Accessories:'' Launcher, 4 spider-leg missiles

: In Japan, "Tarans" was available both as an individual and in a two-pack with "[[Dinobot (BW)|Dinobot]]". Both toys in this set were identical to their individual releases.

: Currently, it is unknown if the latter "more show-like" redeco of Tarantulas was ever released in a VS set.

{{-}}{{anchor|Transmetal}}
[[File:BWtoy-TarantulasTransmetal.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|I'm-a spawn of-a Unicron! I-a slice-a ya pizza!]]
*'''Tarantulas''' (Deluxe Transmetal, 1998)
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''D-44'''
**''Accessories'': Sawblade weapon

: Part of the first assortment of Deluxe [[Transmetal]]s, Tarantulas transforms into a robotic spider. He also has a third "transport" mode, flipping down a wheel from his abdomen and a saw-blade from under his beast-head, making a spidey-cycle. The saw detaches for robot mode to become a hand-held weapon.

: The Japanese version is slightly different, replacing the "TARANTULAS" [[tampograph]] with "DESTRON" and the Predacon sigil, plus his robot mode eyes are painted as a single visor to match the show look better.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1998/Predacon/Tarantulas/tarantulas.htm More information on Transmetal Tarantulas at TFU.info]''

{{-}}{{anchor|FKTransmetal}}
[[File:Tarantulas-FKTM.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|It's like Eight Legged Freaks, but classier, and with a pizza cutter.]]
*'''Tarantulas''' (Deluxe "Fox Kids" Transmetal, 1999)
**''Accessories'': Sawblade weapon

: A [[redeco]] of the Transmetal Tarantulas toy in grays, silver, and black. He and a Transmetal [[Cheetor (BW)/toys#TMFK|Cheetor]] redeco were part of the "[[Fox Kids]]" toys, so called for the advertisements for the Fox channel on the packaging (as the [[Beast Wars: Transformers (cartoon)|''Beast Wars'' cartoon]] had moved there from syndication). Internal Hasbro documents have listed this toy as "Steel Force Tarantulas",<ref>https://groups.google.com/d/msg/alt.toys.transformers/C30fV9dqOK0/gPO8D3N_PAUJ</ref> a name that did not make it to final packaging.

: These colors were used to depict Tarantulas in the ''[[Primeval Dawn]]'' and [[Transformers: Universe (comic)|''Universe'' comics]]. This toy was also later [[repurposing|repurposed]] as Tarantulas's [[Tarantulas (BWSG)|''Shattered Glass'' counterpart]]. With the toy's limited availability, secondary-market pricing for this item due to its fictional use has gone up.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1999/Predacon/FKTMTarantulas/tarantulas.htm More information on Fox Kids Tarantulas at TFU.info]''

{{-}}

===MicroVerse===
[[File:Tarantulas-Microverse.jpg|100px|thumb|I'm not [[Fantastic Four|The]] [[Thing]], I swear!]]
*'''Orcanoch''' ([[MicroVerse]], 1997)

: A small, non-transforming micro-figure of Tarantulas came with the [[MicroVerse]] [[Orcanoch]] playset. It was presumably painted based on the original design, as its upper body is copper rather than purple. Its only articulation is at the waist, letting it sit in any of the MicroVerse mini-vehicles or playset stations.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1997/Maximal/Orcanoch/orcanoch.htm More information on MicroVerse Tarantulas (via Orchanoch) at TFU.info]

{{-}}

===Beast Wars 10th Anniversary===
[[File:BWXtoy-Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|He's not here to help assemble Transmutate. That leg's his dinner.]]
*'''Predacon Tarantulus''' (Deluxe, 2006)
**''Accessories:'' Launcher, 4 spider-leg missiles

:This toy is a slight [[redeco]] of the original Tarantulas toy, more closely resembling Tarantulas's appearance in the cartoon (save the big Predacon faction sigil tampograph). Part of the second wave of [[Transformers: Beast Wars 10th Anniversary|''Beast Wars'' 10th Anniversary product]], he came with a DVD of the episode "[[Spider's Game]]," plus the left leg to [[Transmutate (character)|Trans-Mutate]].

:This release of Tarantulus has [[Misassembly|misassembled]] forearm/claws, which can be easily swapped to the correct position due to the [[ball joint]]ed elbows.
::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2006/Predacon/PredaconTarantulas/predacontarantulas.htm More information on 10th Anniversary Tarantulas at TFU.info]''

{{--}}

{{anchor|TimelinesToy}}
===Timelines===
[[File:Timelinestoy-TarantulasDOFP.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Everyone's second-favorite purple-and-yellow motorcycle two-Mini-Con-having servant of Unicron.]]
*'''Tarantulas''' (2015)
:Tarantulas is a redeco of ''[[Transformers United|United]]'' [[Scrapheap (G1)#United|Scrapheap]], itself a retool of ''[[Transformers (2010 toyline)|Transformers]]'' [[Wreck-Gar (G1)#Transformers (2010)|Wreck-Gar]] with a new head. He turns into a motorcycle. The toy is meant to represent his pre-''Beast Wars'' appearance. The toy also comes with two [[Arachnoid]]s that can be pegged into his left and right arms.

[[File:Timelinestoy-TarantulasDOFPslideshow.jpg|left|thumb|150px]]
:When first revealed at [[BotCon 2014]], the toy's color was different from the final release's appearance. The toy was lighter colored (including the Arachnoids!), his mouthplate was green, and his arms were entirely colored green, among many other differences.
{{2010Wreck-GarMold}}

{{-}}

===Combiner Wars===
{{anchor|DawnOfThePredacus}}
[[File:Timelines botcon tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|*Insert Spider-tank related caption here*]]
*'''Dawn of the Predacus''' ([[BotCon 2016]] box set)
**''Accessories'': Claw weapon, Combiner Foot/Hand

:A [[retool]] of ''[[Combiner Wars (toyline)|Combiner Wars]]'' [[Rook (Generations)#Generations|Rook]], "Predacon Tarantulas" features a new spider-esque head. As a ''Combiner Wars'' Deluxe limb he is able to combine with any Voyager Class toys released as part of the same subline but is, of course, intended to be combined with Sea Clamp, Cicadacon, Ramhorn, and Ravage to create [[Predacus]].

:Rather than 5mm hands, Tarantulas has forward-facing 5mm ports in front of his fists. This allows him to mount his claw-like accessory as an integrated weapon or use ''Combiner Wars'' combiner hands (one of which is included) as giant "Hulk hands".

:He was available exclusively at [[BotCon 2016]] in the "Dawn of the Predacus" box set with [[Ravage (G1)/toys#BotCon2016|Ravage]], [[Ram Horn#Combiner Wars|General Ramhorn]], [[Cicadacon#Combiner Wars|General Cicadacon]], and [[Sea Clamp#Combiner Wars|General Sea Clamp]].
{{CWRookMold}}
{{--}}

==Merchandise==
[[File:Tarantulasmutatingcard.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67]]
*'''Beast Wars Transformers Mutating Card Game''' (1997)
:Tarantulas was one of the 24 beast warriors to receive a battle card representation for the Beast Wars [[Beast Wars Transformers Mutating Card Game|card game]].
{{-}}
===Robot Heroes===
[[File:Robotheroestarantulasprimal.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|Don't take your eyes off your mech fluid, Primal.]]
*'''Optimus Primal vs Predacon Tarantulas''' (2008)

: Part of the second wave of ''[[Transformers: Universe (2008 toyline)|Universe]]'' ''[[Robot Heroes (toyline)|Robot Heroes]]'', this PVC figurine of Tarantulas' original body has articulation in the shoulders and neck. He was available only in a "Beast Wars Series" two-pack with [[Optimus Primal/toys|Optimus Primal]] (amusingly enough, the [[Maximal]] he also came with in the ''[[MicroVerse]]'' [[Orcanoch]] playset).

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2008/Predacon/RHTarantulas/tarantulas.htm More information on Robot Heroes Tarantulas at TFU.info]''

{{--}}

==Notes==
[[File:BWcommercial-Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|Not terribly appealing.]]
*Tarantulas is referred to as simply "Tarantula" in the [[commercial]] advertising his toy. This commercial and also early promotional pictures showed the original Tarantulas toy as being transparent orange, but the final toy was a clear deep purple instead. Presumably, this was for a little visual variety in the early line, which already had a largely tan toy ([[Dinobot (BW)|Dinobot]]) and a largely yellow toy ([[Cheetor (BW)/toys|Cheetor]]) in the Deluxe range, plus a Mega-sized Predacon arachnid then planned to be orange ([[Scorponok (BW)|Scorponok]]), and [[Tigatron]], who was at one point slated to be a traditional orange tiger.
[[File:TarantulasArm.jpg|upright=0.85|thumb|He tastes everything he holds.]]
*In the original control art for Tarantulas, the claws are shown in the same configuration as used in the show. In other words, the claws were somehow swapped during the assembly process and have remained as such on every version of the mold thereafter.
*The original Tarantulas toy has ''nine'' eyes in [[beast mode]], as does the show model. This makes characters' references to him as "eight-eyes" rather... interesting.
*Tarantulas's toy bios paint him as a really dumb ninja-like stealth assassin. Both of his [[Tech Spec]]s give him an intelligence of 4, even the numbers that accompany his ''Transmetals'' bio which mentions the cartoon's [[quantum surge]].
*In the first season, Tarantulas is characterized more as a cannibalistic, psychotic gourmand who happens to be the Predacons' Science Officer than as the mad scientist and master plotter he becomes from "[[Spider's Game]]" onwards. This is to the extent that his official season one profile makes several mentions of his eating habits, describes his sole interest as being "food", and summarizes his relationship with the other Predacons as simple disdain, as he considers them to all be potential meals.
*In the Japanese dub of ''Beast Wars'', Tarantulas retained his trademark cackle, but it was a little ''different''. His voice was very high-pitched and he shrieked almost constantly. His trademark laugh more closely resembled a wicked witch of sorts.
[[File:OptimalSituation Tarantulas insignia.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Tarantulas is one of Reprolabels's best customers.]]
*From "[[Optimal Situation]]" onwards, the [[Arachnoid]]s sport a Tarantulas-themed insignia.
[[File:TMtigatronboxback2.jpg|thumb|Pew! Pew!]]
*Tarantulas's origins are a bit complicated. He declares in "[[Other Victories]]" that he and the [[Tripredacus Council]] have origins other than Autobot and Decepticon, such that they would not be affected by the destruction of the Ark. Megatron's line about "Unicron's spawn" was apparently not intended by [[Bob Forward]] to be taken literally but as a generic Transformer insult; [[Larry DiTillio]] has said Bob "regrets" the line and they never had ''any'' fixed idea of Tarantulas' origin. Larry also said that had the show continued, the characters "might" be descended from the [[Cybertronian (faction)|Cybertronians]].<ref>[http://groups.google.com/group/alt.toys.transformers/msg/f06828ec523295c1?dmode=source&output=gplain Larry DiTillio's take on Tarantulas origins! at alt.toys.transformers]</ref> A Unicronian origin also creates potential canonical issues, as Tarantulas says that "under our rule, Cybertron will conquer the universe" ("[[Other Victories]]"), whereas Unicron's goal would have been to eat Cybertron. But, much like [[Terrorsaur (BW)|Terrorsaur]]'s line about "[[Darksyde (BW)|the dark side]]", this line developed a life of its own. Eventually this connection was reasserted in [[3H Productions]]' ''[[Primeval Dawn]]'' storyline, initially written by... Bob Forward. On the other hand, [[Fun Publications]]' "[[A Common Foe]]" depicted a [[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]]/Cybertronian origin for Tarantulas and the Tripredacus Council but left the specifics a mystery.
*Tarantulas's body in "[[Theft of the Golden Disk]]" is based on [[Ransack (Cybertron)|''Cybertron'' Ransack]]. His body in "[[Dawn of Future's Past]]", however, is a unique design not directly based on an existing toy, unlike the rest of the show characters in the story.
*Tarantulas is probably the only [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] [[Minion of Unicron]] who avoided being labeled a [[Decepticon]].
*From what can be observed from art on the back of Transmetal Tigatron's packaging, Tarantulas's vok-enhanced abilities include levitating and firing energy beams from his eye(s?) in [[robot mode]]. Neat!

===Foreign names===
*''Japanese:'' '''Tarans''' (タランス ''Taransu''), '''Tarantulas''' (タランチュラス ''Taranchurasu'')
*''Italian:'' '''Metal Tarantulas''' (Transmetal toy)
*''Korean:'' '''Tarantulas''' (타란튤라스 ''Talantyullaseu'')
*''Mandarin:'' '''Chīh-chū''' (Taiwan, 蜘蛛, "Spider"), '''Hóng Chīh-chū''' (Taiwan second and third season, 紅蜘蛛, "Red Spider"), '''Láng Zhū''' (China, 狼蛛, "Tarantula")
*''Polish:'' '''Tarantulator'''
*''Portuguese:'' '''Tarântulos''' (Brazil)

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Beast Wars Predacons]]
[[Category:Beast Wars 10th Anniversary]]
[[Category:Beast Wars: Uprising Predacons]]
[[Category:Cloud Predacons]]
[[Category:Combiner Wars]]
[[Category:Combiners]]
[[Category:Double agents]]
[[Category:Generation 1 Decepticons]]
[[Category:IDW Generation 1 Transformers]]
[[Category:Law enforcement]]
[[Category:Legends Predacons]]
[[Category:Minions of Unicron]]
[[Category:Ninjas]]
[[Category:Robot Heroes]]
[[Category:Scientists]]
[[Category:Timelines characters]]
[[Category:Toys "R" Us exclusives]]
[[Category:Transformers with three modes]]
[[Category:Transmetals]]
[[Category:Unicron-related characters]]
[[Category:Universe Predacons]]
[[Category:Universe (2008)]]
[[Category:Wings Universe Predacons]]

Tarantulas (BW)

2017-04-26T00:25:42Z

7Crimsonified7: /* Wings Universe */

{{factions|predacon|unicron|decepticon}}
{{disambig3|Tarantulas}}
{{featured}}
:''Tarantulas is a [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] from the [[Beast Wars: Transformers (franchise)|Beast Wars]] portion of the [[Generation 1 continuity family|Generation 1]] [[continuity family]].''

[[File:Tarantulasbw.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|[[BotCon 2000|"And fries! Lots of FRIES!"]]]]
'''Tarantulas''' is the scheming mad scientist of the Predacon crew. He's the type of mad scientist who experiments on living beings, cackling in his [[trademark]]ed laugh all the while, and then if things go wrong, happily eats what's left as his midday snack. The eating is what he was really looking forward to, anyway. It's this focused perversity that turns off even his fellow Predacons. Tarantulas's emotional detachment from their war also rubs his peers the wrong way. Fighting Maximals and following orders is just a required chore; his real passion is the unmentionable projects stashed in [[Tarantulas's lair|his "secret" lair]].

Nominally, Tarantulas was one of the Predacons to join [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] during his theft of the [[Golden Disk (Voyager)|Golden Disk]] and the search for [[Earth]]. In addition to being an utterly psychotic, sadistic sociopath, he has a record for treachery rivaled by few other Transformers. He is actually an [[Predacon Secret Police|agent]] of the [[Tripredacus Council]], which is trying to coax the Beast Wars toward an unspecified goal, where neither Autobot or Decepticon won the [[Great War (G1)|Great War]]. Who knows what other [[Unicron|dark secrets]] lie in his past.

If anything upsets Tarantulas, other than losing a potential meal, it's those pompous aliens who call themselves the [[Vok]]. He harbors a hatred for them strong enough to make him work to eliminate them by any means.

In some universes he can combine with the Tripredacus Council and [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] to form [[Predacus]].

Sometimes he is previously known as '''Mesothulas''' and sometimes his name is spelled as '''Tarantulus'''.

{{bigquote|You're ''insane.''|[[Tigerhawk]]}}
{{bigquote|So they ''saa''-aay! Wbrrwbrrbbppth!|Tarantulas|"[[Other Victories]]"}}

==Fiction==
===Toy bios===
[[File:PrimalVSMegs-Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Why Megatron, I do believe you're trying to seduce m— oh, hey, [[Razorbeast]].]]
Tarantulas was a sneaky, mysterious ninja feared across the galaxy. A master of the martial arts, he was suspected in the disappearances of many [[Human|Earthlings]], and rumors swirled of giant cocoons where he stored his prey. {{storylink|#Toys|Tarantulas bio}}

Tarantulas was guarding the Predacons' jungle-based genetics lab along with Megatron and Waspinator. When the Maximals discovered them, he engaged [[Razorbeast]] in combat briefly before Megatron called retreat and destroyed the lab. {{storylink|Optimus Primal vs Megatron!}}

After the [[quantum surge]], Tarantulas became a [[Transmetal]], with the accompanying vehicle mode to match. With his new set of wheels, Tarantulas didn't have to rely on stealth and deceit as much, instead speeding head-first into battle and using his new mechanical beast mode to overpower his enemies. {{storylink|#Transmetal|Transmetal Tarantulas bio}}
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===Cartoon continuity===
====''Beast Wars'' cartoon====
{{voiceactor|[[Alec Willows]] (English), [[Scott McNeil]] (English, portions of "[[Other Voices, Part 2]]" only), [[Yūichi Nagashima]] (Japanese)|[[Alexandr Novikov]] (Russian, 1st dub), [[Hervé Joly]] (French), [[Lutz Harder]] (German), [[Riccardo Peroni]] (Italian), [[Junseok Song]] (Korean), [[Humberto Vélez]] (Latin American Spanish), [[Fábio Vilalonga]] (Portuguese)}}

Lieutenant Tarantulas of the [[Predacon Secret Police]] was one of [[Megatron (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Megatron]]'s original crew, a mole inside his organization feeding information back to the [[Tripredacus Council]] without his knowledge. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part 2)}} More than that, he was a ''direct'' agent of the Council and shared their origins, with an overall agenda to alter the timeline by going back to prehistoric Earth and completely destroying the [[Ark (G1)|''Ark'' and the Transformers within]]. {{storylink|Other Victories}} The plan went tits up though, as Megatron's ''Darksyde'' warship ended up crashing on an unidentified planet and contact with Cybertron was lost.{{storylink|Beast Wars (Part 1)}} Tarantulas carried on as normal despite this setback. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part 2)}}

[[File:TheWeb Tarantulas beast mode.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|Not arachnophobic, eh? I can fix that.]]
As Megatron's technical leader, he manned the scanners to appropriate beast forms based on the most powerful local creatures, choosing the form of an over-sized spider for himself. He cheerfully took part in the first battle of the [[Beast Wars (event)|Beast Wars]], only to succumb to energon buildup while the Maximals were escaping. {{storylink|Beast Wars (Part 1)}} The Predacons uncovered a stash of energon crystals atop a mountain, but were forced to fight in their [[beast mode]]s. Tarantulas and [[Rattrap (BW)|Rattrap]] fought in this manner until Megatron triggered a chain reaction which caused the energon to explode. {{storylink|Beast Wars (Part 2)}}

[[File:ChainofCommand Tarantulas firing.jpg|thumb|upright=1.34|Sure, he's fast on the draw, but he ALWAYS shoots himself in the foot.]]
It wasn't long before Tarantulas had set up his own [[Tarantulas's lair|underground lair]] to keep his experiments away from Megatron's prying eyes. After helping [[Scorponok (BW)|Scorponok]] recover a mega-cannon, Tarantulas managed to capture [[Cheetor (BW)|Cheetor]], trapping the young Maximal in a web in his lair with the intent of feeding later. Rattrap mounted a rescue, during which the cavern caved in on Tarantulas {{storylink|The Web}} Tarantulas was blasted by Rattrap during the battle at the [[Standing Stones]], and later accompanied Megatron and [[Terrorsaur (BW)|Terrorsaur]] to attack the ''Axalon'' after it appeared that [[Optimus Primal/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Optimus Primal]] had perished. After the Maximals got the ship's shields back up, he suggested to Megatron that they return to the Standing Stones. Unfortunately once there, the Maximals managed to retrieve Primal from the [[Vok probe|alien probe]] at the site, and Tarantulas was one of the first victims of the restored Maximal commander. {{storylink|Chain of Command (BW)|Chain of Command}}

Terrorsaur, his power boosted, defeated Megatron in combat before leaving Tarantulas in charge of the other Predacons. Tarantulas promptly tailed Terrorsaur to find out what his new power source was, and discovered it was a [[flying mountain]] topped with a cache of super energon. Before he could do anything with the knowledge, he encountered Rattrap, who'd come to destroy the mountain. Their fight ended with Tarantulas falling from the side of the mountain. {{storylink|Power Surge (episode)|Power Surge}} He subsequently took part in an attack on the Maximal base after a [[stasis pod]] crashed. While Megatron kept [[Dinobot (BW)|Dinobot]] distracted, Tarantulas and Scorponok ambushed the Maximal from behind. Unfortunately for them, Dinobot had time to activate the base defenses, and Tarantulas was blasted into the distance by the auto-guns. {{storylink|Fallen Comrades}}

When the Predacons finally captured a stasis pod, Tarantulas made sure that the [[protoform]] was given a spider beast mode, creating [[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]]. Megatron suspected he had ulterior motives, but was nonetheless pleased by the new soldier. Tarantulas seemed happy to follow Terrorsaur when the Predacon mounted another takeover attempt with the aid of Rattrap, but spent most of his time skulking around the ''Darksyde'' in search of rats to eat. He spotted Rattrap sneaking around, but the Maximal blasted him before he could do anything. He subsequently limped back to the others to find that Megatron had reasserted his leadership. {{storylink|Double Jeopardy}} After one of Scorponok's viruses turned Primal into a berserker, the Maximal leader broke into the Predacon base and, completely ignoring Tarantulas's attempts to stop him, pinned the spider to a wall using Tarantulas's own weapon. {{storylink|Gorilla Warfare}}

[[File:Tflocklens&tarantulas.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1|"Behold my latest invention... THE DISCO BALL VERSION 2.0!"]]
One of Tarantulas's many inventions, the [[transformation lock lens]], was instrumental in preventing the Maximals from contacting a [[temporal probe]] doing a flyby of the planet. He used it to ensnare [[Tigatron]] and Cheetor, then wreaked havoc with the Maximals' attempts to build a communications array, before he was finally defeated by Primal. Although his new toy was destroyed by the recovered Cheetor and Tigatron, the damage was already done, and the probe flew by uncontacted. {{storylink|The Probe}} After the Predacons discovered a Maximal spy camera in their base, they faked a mutiny and hid in a crevice. Tarantulas spent his nights being hugged like a stuffed toy by [[Waspinator (BW)|Waspinator]], and his days eating stray rats. While the Maximals repaired the ''Axalon'', the Predacons were discovered by Dinobot, and gave chase. Though they attacked the Maximal ship in an attempt to capture it, the affair ended with the ''Axalon'' crashing back to the ground. {{storylink|Victory (episode)|Victory}} After a Maximal victory, largely due to the efforts of Rhinox, Tarantulas captured the rhino in a web on Megatron's orders, so that he could be converted into a Predacon by the [[Transmuter (BW)|Transmuter]]. In return, the new Predacon poisoned him and Blackarachnia. {{storylink|Dark Designs}}

[[File:Spider'sGame Taratulas hauling stasis pod.jpg|thumb|upright=1.45|Ever the engineer, Tarantulas invents the low-tech equivalent of a tow truck.]]
Tarantulas detected another stasis pod landing in [[Grid Scavos]], but Megatron refused to let him go and assist in the recovery, much to his disgust. {{storylink|The Spark}} The next time a stasis pod crashed, Tarantulas was more prepared. From his lair, he used a [[magna pulse]] to disable both the ''Darksyde'' and ''Axalon'' to allow him to investigate without interference. Unfortunately for him, Blackarachnia had found his lair, and insisted on coming along to help. At the pod, Tarantulas reprogrammed the new arrival into a Predacon, but was disappointed that a beast mode had already been chosen, and [[Inferno (BW)|Inferno]] would not be another spider. In the confusion that followed, he made off with the real prize — the stasis pod itself. Unfortunately for him, Tigatron destroyed the pod before he could get very far, and he was forced to retreat when Megatron arrived. Later, in his lair, he inadvertently told Blackarachnia that the planet was doomed, and she realized he was intending to build an escape ship, however he threw her out before she could work out any more of his plans. {{storylink|Spider's Game}}

Tarantulas took part in a diversionary attack while Waspinator and Terrorsaur stole the Maximals' [[rectifier coil]]. After the Maximals went feral, the Predacons mounted a hunting expedition, though Tarantulas was stuck supporting the back end of Megatron's chair. {{storylink|Call of the Wild}} On another occasion, Tarantulas detected what appeared to be walking energon. Megatron realized that an earlier battle had left four of the Maximals contaminated and blinded, and ordered Tarantulas to send Terrorsaur to investigate. {{storylink|Dark Voyage}} After Waspinator was possessed by the ghost of [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]], Tarantulas took part in the attack on the ''Axalon'', and pointed out once they'd conquered it that their own base was now undefended. Megatron's answer was to leave Starscream in charge of the ''Axalon'', a decision which would come back to bite him later. {{storylink|Possession}}

[[File:Dinobottarantulasrattrapthelowroad.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.34|"See? I told you I was taller than Tarantulas."]]
During an attack on the Maximal base, Tarantulas was able to infect Rhinox with an [[energon discharge virus]], though he himself was injured by Dinobot during the retreat. He was tracked by Dinobot and Rattrap, but eventually turned the tables by getting the drop on them, only to be flattened by a huge boulder. After recovering, he took advantage of their incessant arguing by trying to get the drop on them again, only to be knocked unconscious by a double punch. Finally, Dinobot attempted to use Tarantulas's body as a hostage, only for Megatron to blast it aside. Perhaps his only consolation was that he avoided the indignity of the fate that befell the rest of the Predacons. {{storylink|The Low Road}}

With the return of the [[Vok|aliens]] a certainty, Tarantulas stole a [[transwarp cell]] from the ''Darksyde'', slagging Waspinator in the process. Megatron detected the theft and used Blackarachnia as a distraction while he remotely inserted his own programming into the cell. The two spiders later took part in an attempt to prevent Tigatron from escaping the Predacon base, and were squished by a boulder Dinobot had set up. They were relatively uninjured and able to haul their damaged comrades back to the ship. {{storylink|Before the Storm}} The two spiders teamed up again, infiltrating the Maximal base and disabling Rhinox and Dinobot while the other Maximals were busy with the latest alien construct to appear. They became aware that the planet's second moon had just been revealed as an artificial, alien ''doomsday weapon'' in disguise, with Tarantulas remarking it was "the beginning of the end" for the planet. {{storylink|Other Voices, Part 1}} In the cargo hold, Tarantulas used the transwarp cell and a stasis pod to construct a ship, but was interrupted by Inferno, who torched the spider. Fortunately, Blackarachnia entered Tarantulas's mind to obtain the information to complete the escape ship, and he was able to set up a permanent neural link between the two Predacons. {{storylink|Other Voices, Part 2}}

[[File:ComingFuzors1 Tarantulas lives.jpg|thumb|upright=1.55|A new look, and he didn't even have to [[Spider-Man|sell out]] to [[Iron Man|Tony Stark]] for it!]]
When the [[quantum surge]] caused by the "second moon's" destruction knocked out all of the Transformers on the planet, Tarantulas's body was upgraded to a [[Transmetal]] form, and he forced Blackarachnia to drag it from the Maximal base, even getting her to ignore Megatron's command to stay and fight the Maximals. {{storylink|Aftermath}} With Blackarachnia's hard work and some serious-looking electrical arc generators, Tarantulas was restored to life. Megatron soon called him to the battlefield, so he left Blackarachnia to root around in their leader's computer files: by this point, the loss of the "moon" and the damages to the planet had revealed it to be ''prehistoric Earth'' all along... {{storylink|Coming of the Fuzors (Part 1)}}

Using his new cycle mode, Tarantulas quickly reached the Maximals' position. During the fight, he kept in contact with her, until a shot by Dinobot put him temporarily out of commission. After he came around, Blackarachnia reported that she'd failed to get the data he needed. The Predacons were soon routed by the resurrection of Optimus Primal, and forced to return to base. There, Megatron and Tarantulas questioned Blackarachnia, only to be told the vital data had been lost. Neither of them believed her, but didn't call her out. {{storylink|Coming of the Fuzors (Part 2)}}

With his old lair destroyed by the Planet Buster, Tarantulas was fortuitous in that Megatron assigned him with Blackarachnia and [[Quickstrike (BW)|Quickstrike]] to check out a cave filled with energon. He quickly surmised that it would make an excellent new lair, and attempted to get his two comrades interested in going it alone. Blackarachnia was more interested in getting rid of the neural link the two of them shared, and cracked an energon crystal, sending feedback through the link, to force him to sever it. By a fortunate coincidence, the three Predacons were soon attacked by [[Silverbolt (BW)|Silverbolt]] and Rattrap, and during the battle Tarantulas was able to convincingly fake the destruction of the cave, allowing him to utilize it as his own lair. {{storylink|Tangled Web}} When Dinobot defected to the Predacon side, Tarantulas offered to verify his programming, but Megatron decided it wouldn't be a very good idea to let Tarantulas into Dinobot's processor. {{storylink|Maximal, No More}}

[[File:OtherVisits1 Tarantulas beast mode.jpg|left|upright=1.2|thumb|Downside: everything tastes like feet now.]]
Back in his lair, Tarantulas's instruments detected the aliens again, and he rushed off to the site. He arrived shortly after Tigatron and [[Airazor (BW)|Airazor]] had been abducted, and zapped Cheetor, but was forced to retreat when more Maximals arrived. He visited Megatron, claiming to no longer be under the tyrant's command, but willing to help. The Predacons returned to the alien site to set up equipment, during which Blackarachnia revealed that she had learned through the broken neural link that Tarantulas hated the aliens. {{storylink|Other Visits (Part 1)}} Megatron, Quickstrike, and Tarantulas recovered quickly from the energy wave put out by the new [[Metal Hunter|alien construct]], and after Tarantulas's [[refractive web]] was activated, the trio ventured inside. Once Megatron had control of the construct, he terminated his alliance with Tarantulas, dropping the Predacon from a great height. Infuriated, Tarantulas helped the Maximals attack the construct, infiltrating it along with Rattrap, and sabotaging the transwarp cells which Megatron installed, causing the ship to explode. {{storylink|Other Visits (Part 2)}}

Though a bug planted on Megatron's chair, Tarantulas learned that Blackarachnia had been sent to recover a new protoform, and took the opportunity to threaten her to try and extract the information he suspected she'd gained from Megatron's computers. Unfortunately for him, Silverbolt stepped in and defended Blackarachnia, shortly before an energon explosion separated everyone. Though Tarantulas found the stasis pod, [[Rampage (BW)|its contents]] found him, and his body parts were spread liberally over a wide area. {{storylink|Bad Spark}} Dinobot later tracked down Tarantulas in an attempt to find out what Megatron's latest scheme was. Though Tarantulas didn't know, Dinobot forced him to act as transport, and they soon found Megatron preparing to torch a valley fill of [[Protohuman]]s. Tarantulas took advantage of Dinobot's distraction to shoot the Maximal, only for Dinobot to drop a boulder on him. {{storylink|Code of Hero}}

[[File:Agenda3 Tarantulas button push.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Tarantulas presses the History Eraser Button.]]
Alerted by the [[transwarp wavefront]], the Tripredacus Council sent covert agent [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] to capture Megatron. The former Decepticon led the Maximals to apprehend Megatron, and Tarantulas assisted by taking down the ''Darksyde''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> defense system. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part 1)}} Megatron, much to his indignation, was later informed by Ravage that the spider was a lieutenant in the Predacon Secret Police; Tarantulas joined in the diss by laughing over a comm-screen at his former boss. Tarantulas was able to instruct the Maximals in the location of a stash of energon crystals that Megatron had hidden. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part 2)}} When Ravage was persuaded to change sides by the Predacon leader, Tarantulas appeared to come too, manning the [[transwarp cruiser]]'s weapons systems for an attack on the ''Axalon''. Alas, Rattrap chewed his way into the ship and tossed a couple of [[Fusion weaponry#Fusion grenade|bomb]]s at Tarantulas, which stuck to his hands before exploding. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part III)}}

Tarantulas survived, though, and was quickly put back together by his [[arachnoid]]s. He was repaired in time to witness the destruction of the ''Axalon''. {{storylink|Optimal Situation}} He was soon seen back at the Predacon base, working under Megatron's command once again with no mention of his former secession. {{storylink|Cutting Edge}} However, around this time he was also working on another scheme: restoring the ''[[Nemesis (G1)|Nemesis]]'', the flagship of the [[Decepticon]] fleet! At some point, he'd found it lying at the bottom of the ocean, and was ensuring it would not only fly again but had a Predacon control console and a transwarp cell that could take it back to Cybertron... {{storylink|Nemesis Part 1}}

He battled the Maximals alongside Megatron's [[cyber raptor]]s, taking the opportunity to try out his new Transmetal [[cyber venom]] to great success, though he was stomped on by a cyber raptor once the Maximals worked out how to destroy their controls. {{storylink|Cutting Edge}} He assisted in the construction of Megatron's [[disruptor cannon]], suggesting that they abduct an early human to complete the device when the other Predacons were unable to get too close to it due to the unstable power source. While the cannon was completed by [[Una]], she managed to use her knowledge of levers to tip a piece of heavy equipment on him. Though he survived that, Una had taken the cannon's stablizer crystal, and it exploded in the Predacons' faces when they tried to use it. {{storylink|Go with the Flow}}

[[File:CrossingRubicon Tarantulas fires on Silverbolt.jpg|thumb|left|260px]]
When the Maximals attempted to remove Blackarachnia's shell program, he revealed to Megatron that he had included "certain safeguards" that guaranteed she would not survive, and joined the other Predacons in an attack on the Maximals that was meant to disrupt the attempted shell removal. He fired the missile which knocked the Maximals' power off-line at a crucial instant, seemingly bringing an end to his "treacherous creation". Enraged by the death of his beloved, [[Silverbolt (BW)|Silverbolt]] attempted to kill the scientist, but was thwarted by [[Rampage (BW)|Rampage]], who was later defeated by a revived—and [[Transmetal]]ized—Blackarachnia. {{storylink|Crossing the Rubicon}}

Tarantulas participated in the Predacons' next attempt to retake the [[Ark (G1)|Ark]], utilising his latest invention to allow Quickstrike to take control of Optimus Primal... and ''that'' was when he made his move, at last. He manipulated [[Quickstrike (BW)|Quickstrike]] into throwing Megatron into the nearby lava while he himself set the Ark's engines to overload. Megatron survived his lava-dunking, gaining a new body in the process. However, he had lost his patience. While he'd tolerated Tarantulas's treachery, he could not tolerate incompetence. Tarantulas survived his punishment and fled back to his lair. {{storylink|Master Blaster}} This appears to have ''not'' been what Quickstrike thought he was going to do, and neither he nor Megatron had any idea why he'd planned to destroy the whole Ark.

[[File:TarantulasVok SignOfTheCross.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|"Save me, X-Men!"]]
Tarantulas was left ranting in his lair about how the Tripredacus Council's plans were wrecked, while his systems monitored the ''Nemesis'' (which was finished by this point). However, his rant and Nemesis plans were interrupted when the aliens—now revealed to be called the [[Vok]]—sent their emissary [[Tigerhawk]] arrived on Earth. Tarantulas let him take out the Predacons, then used his arachnoids to disable and capture him. Tarantulas intended to force the all-powerful being into his servitude by drawing the Vok influences out of his body and reprogramming him, and then have him obliterate the Ark: he cheerfully told the emissary that as he nor the Council had Autobot or Decepticon origins, they'd survive the resulting timestorm, turn Cybertron into a universe-conquering force, and one day even conquer the Vok themselves!

The scheme backfired, however, as his energy beam device expelled two ''actual Vok'' out of Tigerhawk. The formless spectres attempted to take over Tarantulas' body. Panicking, he made a religious sign to ward them off and then opened fire on them—a futile gesture that merely served to spin the energy device around 'til its rays were blasting him and his lab equipment. Overloaded by the beams, Tarantulas exploded, leaving nothing behind but his boots. The remainder of his equipment detonated seconds later, blowing the lair to rubble. Cheetor managed to rescue the inert Tigerhawk, and Tarantulas was presumed destroyed. {{storylink|Other Victories}}

Megatron knew that Tarantulas must have had some schemes on the go that the Predacons could pick up and use, and had his men search the ruins of the spider's lair. During this, he offhandedly referred to him as "[[Unicron's Spawn]]". He ended up discovering and using the working ''Nemesis''. {{storylink|Nemesis Part 1}}
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====Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity====
=====Yokohama Decepticon Secret Base=====
[[File:Yokohama Unicron Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|100px]]
As part of a plot to destroy the [[2014]] [[Transformers Expo]] in [[Yokohama]] and the Cybertronian artifacts within, Taratulas, working on [[Unicron]]'s behalf, secretly granted [[Predacon computer|NAVI-ko]] a new body and intelligence regarding [[Yokohama Convoy|Nemesis Prime]]. True to plan, NAVI-ko was sent to activate the clone and guide him to the Transformers Expo. However, thanks to Nemesis Prime's inherent sense of justice, the plan failed. {{storylink|Yokohama Decepticon Secret Base}}

=====''Cloud''=====
{{charstubfiction|{{storylink|Wild (Cloud)|Wild}} {{storylink|TFC-A03}}}}

=====''Beast Wars Diorama Story''=====
[[File:BWDiorama Motorarm Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|left|A ravenous, sinister fiend... and Tarantulas.]]
Sometime after Starscream's arrival to prehistoric Earth, Tarantulas was confronted in battle by a time-displaced [[Motorarm (BWII)|Motorarm]], who fended off the Predacon with his Beetle Claw attack. Tarantulas was not present when the Autobots from [[Movie (franchise)|another universe]] and Maximals combined all of their energies to attack a team of Predacons and Decepticons. {{storylink|Motorarm Chapter}}
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====3H comics====
Tarantulas was the inventor of the [[mind-drill]]. [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] "borrowed" it from him to get information out of [[Antagony (BW)|Antagony]]. {{storylink|Herald, Covenant, Schism, Paradox|Herald}}

[[File:Primevaldawn2 tarantulas matrix.jpg|thumb|Further proving the maxim: "If you want to steal the Matrix, you basically can."]]
Following the Beast Wars, Tarantulas's body returned to life, reanimated by the Vok powers he'd previously absorbed. The undead Tarantulas, along with a rebuilt Ravage (as [[Ravage (G1)|Tripredacus Agent]]), nurtured new troops to life through enigmatic means, growing [[Razorclaw (BW)|Razorclaw]] and [[Iguanus (BW)|Iguanus]] in tubes. {{storylink|Primeval Dawn Part 1}} {{storylink|Primeval Dawn II}}

The remaining Vok anticipated Tarantulas's plan to destroy the rest of them, take their power, and fashion the timestream to his desires, and so they assembled an army of their own consisting of [[Primal Prime]], [[Airazor (BW)|Airazor]], and [[Tigatron]]. Tarantulas met this opposition in battle, overwhelmed them, and triumphantly ripped the [[Matrix of Leadership]] from Primal Prime's chest. {{storylink|Primeval Dawn Part 2}}

Wounded critically, the Maximals withdrew to the Ark, while Tarantulas and his Predacons returned to his lair, where he directed them in the construction of a transwarp portal. Upon completion, Tarantulas planned to bring his stolen prize to his master, Unicron. Since his troops were getting restless, he promised them they could assault the Ark once they finished construction. Tarantulas was true to his word, and as Ravage led the Predacons against the Maximals, Unicron's spawn tried to stabilize the portal and prepared the Matrix for transport. {{storylink|Primeval Dawn Part 3}}

{{note|[[3H Productions]] dissolved before this storyline could be completed. Based on the subsequent ''Wreckers'' and ''[[Transformers: Universe (comic)|Universe]]'' storylines, it can be assumed that the Matrix of Leadership was restored to Optimus Prime's body at the end of this altercation, the Maximals were triumphant and used Tarantulas's portal to return home to Cybertron, and that Tarantulas somehow fled to Unicron.}}

After using the [[Divine Light]] to access [[Primus]]'s power, [[Cryotek (Universe)|Cryotek]] reanimated several [[Sharkticon (G1)|Sharkticon]] corpses into facsimiles of [[Megatron (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Megatron]]'s old subordinates, including one of Tarantulas. {{storylink|Wreckers: Finale Part II}}

[[File:Escape-Tarantulas.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|Tarantulus {{sic}} basically just never dies.]]

A year after the [[Great Reformatting]], the [[Unicron virus|influence]] of [[Unicron]] swayed an abducted [[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]] to the side of darkness. As she was escorted by [[Tankor (BM)|Tankor]] and [[Reptilion]] into the heart of the Chaos Bringer, she was surprised to see Tarantulas (still in his undead body) greet her as she joined the ranks of the [[Minion of Unicron|Minions of Unicron]]. She hissed with disgust while Tarantulas noted that it was just like old times. {{storylink|Escape (Universe)|Escape}}

Tarantulas had learned that [[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]] had been assembling the [[Child of Primus|Children of Primus]] to counter Unicron's Minions, and so he sent Blackarachnia on a mission to [[Primax 797.18 Epsilon|her home Cybertron]] to sever the link between the Transformers and [[Primus]] by invading [[Vector Sigma]]'s chamber and destroying Alpha Trion. He gave Blackarachnia a swarm of [[Piranacon (Universe)|Piranacon]]s and directions to the chamber through a structural weak point near the [[Rust Sea]]. {{storylink|Homecoming (Universe)|Homecoming}}
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====''Transformers Legends'' anthology====
The [[Megatron (G1)|original Megatron]], now inside the mind of [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] after the latter planted the former's spark inside his body, berated the Predacon leader's failures—in particular, being led astray time and again by such treacherous subordinates as Tarantulas. {{storylink|A Meeting of Minds}}

====IDW ''Beast Wars'' comics====
One account states that when Tarantulas was born at the [[Pit (facility)|Pit]], a glitch in the process granted him insight into the fact that an alien force was manipulating the Predacons for its ends. Thus, Tarantulas became obsessed with whatever this force was. {{storylink|Transformers: Beast Wars Sourcebook|Beast Wars Sourcebook #4}}

Another account stated that Tarantulas was one of the [[Tripredacus Council]]'s covert agents, working for them since before the Great Wars began to be recorded. As a key member of the council's schemes, Tarantulas helped develop the combiner technology that led to [[Predacus]]. {{storylink|#Combiner Wars|''Combiner Wars'' Tarantulas bio}}

Before his travels off-world, Tarantulas worked in tandem with the Tripredacus Council, who sought to unite Cybertron under a single, "purer" race. As the Great War drew to a close, Tarantulas received field intelligence reporting startling news: both [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]] and [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]] had died in a terrible confrontation between their forces. Though his masters weren't particularly moved by this turn of events, [[Megatron (BW)|a renegade]] within their army's ranks was. It became clear to the council that this upstart would resume the offensive against the enemy forces despite being ordered not to, and so Tarantulas was sent back out into the field to try and prevent any further complications from arising out of the situation.

While Tarantulas was away, the Council's secret base was discovered, and due to an [[Axalon (BW)|exploration vessel]] accidentally getting in its path, the transmatter bomb the Council had attempted to launch, to reformat all of Cybertron at once, was deflected from its proper course. Ram Horn, Cicadacon, Sea Clamp, and Ravage all met up with Tarantuals in the field, and confronted the gestalt [[Predaking (G1)|Predaking]], who was among the Decepticons causing dissension in their ranks. Tarantulas and his allies isolated him on the battlefield, and merged into their own gestalt form, [[Predacus]], to slay him.

Tarantulas next met with the upstart now calling himself "Megatron", and told him that the transmatter raining down on the planet was the result of a doomsday weapon of Galvatron's going off, triggered by the mad tyrant's death. He next informed Megatron that Predaking has comitted suicide out of shame for his involvement in Galvatron's plans. The Tripredacus Council had hoped these lies would be enough to dissuade Megatron from continuing hostilities, but this was not the case, and so moved on to plan B: sniping Megatron with a stun beam, and surrendering to the Autobots themselves.

For the "great risks" Tarantulas took towards the pursuit of peace, he was granted amnesty after the signing of the Pax Cybertronia. He had a hearty laugh at the expense of the Autobots' gullibility over this. {{storylink|Dawn of the Predacus}}

During his time on Earth, Tarantulas discovered the force he was obsessed with since birth was the [[Vok]]. {{storylink|Transformers: Beast Wars Sourcebook|Beast Wars Sourcebook #4}} He also programmed the Predacons' mobile fortress, the [[Arachnid]], utilizing his own personality programs to give it some form of sentience, accompanied by Tarantulas's own tendency for cruelty. {{storylink|Transformers: Beast Wars Sourcebook|Beast Wars Sourcebook #1}}

While [[Magmatron]] surveyed the timestream, he witnessed several key events during the Beast Wars. Among these was Tarantulas in his original "beast" body skulking in his lair. {{storylink|The Gathering issue 1|The Gathering #1}}

====SD BotCon====
Tarantulas joined Ravage at a bar to [[Dawn of the Predacus|laugh maniacally over drinks]], only for the pair to be approached by [[Beetle]] after their fourth outburst; the pair were being kicked out since everyone else was tired of their cackling. Thankfully, Tarantulas knew of a place where they could laugh to their hearts' content... a children's ball pit! {{storylink|SD SG#SDBC1|SD BotCon #1}}

====''Timelines''====
[[File:TheftOfGoldenDisk-Tarantulas.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.66|What y'wanna do? Wanna be hackers? Code crackers? Slackers? Wastin' time with all the chatroom yakkers? WHAT?]]
Tarantulas decoded the information on the [[Golden Disk (Voyager)|Golden Disk]] which had been freshly stolen by Megatron. He thought this was quite hilarious, but then, he thinks that about everything. {{storylink|Theft of the Golden Disk}}

[[File:Tarantulasdawn.jpg|thumb|See? A Planet X key in the corner of the pic. He's working for Unicron! Get him!]]
As [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] and his rogue band of Predacons escaped [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] in their stolen ship, the ''[[Darksyde (BW)|Darksyde]]'', Tarantulas was in charge of scanning the disk for a desired set of coordinates. While Megatron was not watching, he was in secret communication with [[Cicadacon|General Cicadacon]] of the [[Tripredacus Council]].

Using the decoded coordinates, the ''Darksyde'' opened a [[transwarp]] portal, which it and the [[Axalon (BW)|''Axalon'']] passed through. {{storylink|Dawn of Future's Past}}

Two weeks after [[Airazor (BW)|Airazor]] was reborn on [[Earth]], Tarantulas fought to defend an orbital weapon from the Maximals. The launching pad was destroyed by Airazor. {{storylink|The Razor's Edge}}
{{-}}

====''Wings Universe''====
[[File:Tarantulasemerges-ACommonFoe.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1 "Well, howdy! Just scratching the wall, don't mind me!"]]]
One of four mysterious protoforms found by [[Sky-Byte (RID)#Wings Universe|Sky-Byte]] in the laboratory of [[Jhiaxus (G2)#Wings Universe|Jhiaxus]] while trying to save his former collaborator's clones from the Autobots, {{storylink|A Common Foe}} Tarantulas and [[Tripredacus Council|the other three]] pledged allegiance to the Predacons in suspiciously quick time.<ref name="TFSS3bio">"Tarantulas is a being without a history. In his rush to remove Jhiaxus' clones from his laboratory before the Autobots discovered its location, Sky-Byte mistakenly extracted four stasis pods of unknown origin. The emergent robots immediately declared for the Predacon cause, some might say suspiciously quickly. Of the four robots, Tarantulas has since discovered an endless fascination with experimental science, especially seeking any opportunity for vivisection."</ref>

=====''Hot Shot's Bot Thoughts''=====
The Tarantulas of [[Primax 509.28 Epsilon]] was interviewed by [[Hot Shot (Armada)|Shotimus Prime]], who seemed determined to prove that Tarantulas was also [[Sideways (Armada)|Sideways]]. Annoyed by Shotimus's badgering, Tarantulas eventually resorted to pulling the Matrix out of Shotimus's chest, reverting him to Hot Shot, and then hitting him repeatedly with it. {{storylink|Hot Shot's Bot Thoughts}}

====Waspscream continuity====
In [[Primax 208.06 Zeta]], Tarantulas joined [[Waspinator (BW)|Waspscream]]'s successful coup against Megatron. Waspscream then convinced Tarantulas to decode Megatron's Golden Disk by promising to make Tarantulas his lieutenant upon returning to Cybertron and deposing the Tripredacus Council. Unfortunately en route, Megatron escaped, conquered Cybertron with a [[transformation virus]], and turned the bodies of Cybertron's populace into [[Vehicon (BM)|Vehicon]]s. Upon arrival, Waspscream's crewmembers who had [[transmetal]] forms managed to survive the virus and escape Megatron's clutches, eventually finding their way to the [[Oracle (BM)|Oracle]], who granted them [[technorganic]] forms. Waspscream's Predacons waged a valiant Spark War against the Vehicons, eventually achieving victory. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/08/16}}

===''Beast Wars Metals'' manga===
[[File:TarantulasMangaMouth01.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Tarantulas raises an army of mannequins to strike terror into his foes.]]

Following the [[Quantum surge]], Tarantulas was upgraded into a [[Transmetal]]. Scheming with [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] within their floating island base, [[Hindenburg]], Tarantulas developed a plan to revive the deceased [[Optimus Primal]] as a [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] slave. Recovering Primal's mindless, raging body, Tarantulas staged a strange voodoo ceremony (complete with boiling cauldron). As Megatron pricked his finger and prepared to use his mutated blood to turn Primal's rampaging body into his slave, the spark of Optimus Primal returned to it just in the nick of time. As Primal turned into a Transmetal, Tarantulas began to celebrate, convinced that his plan had worked out better than he had thought, unaware of what was really going on. In fact, he was ''so'' convinced that Primal was now a Predacon slave, that he ordered the monkey to give him a shoulder massage. Optimus Primal proceeded to knock Tarantulas's block off. {{storylink|Beast Wars Metals issue 1|Beast Wars Metals #1}}

Tarantulas pulled himself together and confronted Tigatron, only to be promptly sliced in half. {{storylink|Beast Wars Metals issue 2|Beast Wars Metals #2}}

Undeterred, he taped himself back together and planted an [[arachnoid]] in Tigatron which gave Tarantulas control of the Maximal samurai's mind and body. {{storylink|Beast Wars Metals issue 3|Beast Wars Metals #3}} Airazor linked her mind to Tigatron's in an attempt to free her beloved and while her body fought Tigatron, Airazor's consciousness fought Tarantulas and his virtual minions. Ultimately, with Blackarachnia's help, Tigatron's mind was freed, though Airazor died in the process, killed by the mind-controlled Tigatron. Optimus Primal arrived and promptly stomped Tarantulas to death and blew his body to pieces. {{storylink|Beast Wars Metals issue 4|Beast Wars Metals #4}}

Shortly afterward, the energies from sparks freed from an obliterated [[Rampage (BW)|Rampage]] brought Tarantulas back to life as a mindless zombie. He fought Optimus Primal but was destroyed for good by Primal's rocket-fists. {{storylink|Beast Wars Metals issue 5|Beast Wars Metals #5}}

===''Transformers Legends'' anthology===
When [[human]] archaeologists uncovered a cave filled with primitive language, [[Mini-Con]] [[Laserbeak (Armada)|Laserbeak]] translated it for them. The markings told of a time when the Maximals and Predacons crash-landed on prehistoric Earth, though the stranded Transformers were seen by the protohumans as gods. The "spider-god" and the "[[Waspinator (BW)|wasp-god]]," under instruction from their [[Megatron (BW)|leader]], enslaved the humans for the purposes of excavating "[[Energon|glowing rose crystals]]." Eventually, a "[[Silverbolt (BW)|wolf-god]]" came, and had a fierce battle with the spider, allowing the captive humans to flee. The spider was defeated by the wolf, and then buried underground in a cave-in. {{storylink|Fire in the Dark}}

====Ask Vector Prime====
In [[Aurex 1104.30-JH Zeta]], Tarantulas had his own agenda on prehistoric Earth. He deployed his [[Arachnoid]]s across the globe to search for traces of [[Super Energon]], accumulating a large cache of the powerful substance. Optimus Primal sacrificed himself to hijack Tarantulas's makeshift craft and destroy it in orbit, causing a [[Quantum surge|Super Energon Transwarp Explosion]] which granted a [[Transmetal]] upgrade to many participants in the conflict as well as created the [[Fuzor]]s. Later, Megatron attempted to use Tarantulas's secret experiments in a last-ditch effort to turn the tide, but ultimately, the Maximals emerged victorious in the war for the [[Mini-Con]]s. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/08/13}}

===''Transformers Legends'' comic===
Tarantulas sneakily browsed the toys for sale at [[Transformers Celebration 2014]]. {{storylink|Legends Bonus Vol.}} The head of [[Tera-Kura Co.]]'s science department and an expert at building robots, he he was responsible for production of their [[Nightbird (G1)|Nightbird]] clones. One day he was approached by the [[Decepticon]] [[Headmaster (technology)|Headmasters]] of [[OG World|another universe]], who offered him use of their technology in exchange for his help in building them new [[transtector]]s. Realizing he could use this tech to conquer the [[Legends Universe]] for himself, Tarantulas accepted. {{storylink|Headmasters Chapter Prologue}} Once a partnership between the Decepticons and Tera-Kura had been formed, he used data stolen from the [[Autobot]] Headmasters to build a body for [[Skullcruncher (G1)|Skullcruncher]] as well as the drone [[Batora]]. Seeking to eliminate the Autobots, his rivals on the technology market, he and [[Weirdwolf (G1)|Weirdwolf]] then sent out Skullcruncher to lure out and destroy them, but the Headmaster was defeated. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 22|Bonus Edition Vol. 22}} Tarantulas's boss, [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]], chewed them out over their violent approach, leading to a disgruntled Tarantulas building a body for Megatron that would turn him into the destructive [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]]. In the end, Megatron resisted the body and taught them a lesson, though Tarantulas pointed out that as he'd planned, Galvatron's destruction had increased Tera-Kura's sales. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 23|Bonus Edition Vol. 23}}

Not ones to give up, Tarantulas and Weirdwolf had [[Mindwipe (G1)|Mindwipe]] hypnotize Megatron back into Galvatron only for [[Blurr (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Blurr]] to undo the spell. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 25|Bonus Edition Vol. 25}} He was present at the office when [[Scourge (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Scourge]] attempted to take over Tera-Kura. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 26|Bonus Edition Vol. 26}} When a group of [[Nightbeat (G1)|mass-produced Headmasters]] from [[Axalon Trading Company|Autobot Axalon Trading Company]] started stealing Decepticon transtectors on the orders of [[Rewind (G1)|Rewind]], Tarantulas responded by activating the Galvatron body's mask, briefly brainwashing the unfortunate [[Rattrap (BW)|Rattrap]] into being evil. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 28|Bonus Edition Vol. 28}} Since his Megatron plan wasn't working out, Tarantulas chose to enter the Galvatron body and pilot it himself, using it to defeat Megatron and use his head mode as a soccer ball. Though he was defeated by [[Wheelie (G1)|Wheelie]] and [[Shūta Gō]], he was happy with the data he'd gathered about controlling a transtector. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 29|Bonus Edition Vol. 29}} He then finished a new transtector for Weirdwolf, shocking its owner by making it sentient (and revealing that Skullcruncher's had been so all along). {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 30|Bonus Edition Vol. 30}}

Tarantulas was initially gleeful when Tera-Kura purchased [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]], but quickly grew unsatisfied and wanted control of ''both'' Metroplex and Autobot Axalon's new base, [[Fortress Maximus (G1)|Maximus]]. He had Weirdwolf infiltrate Maximus and take it for Tera-Kura by using the [[Master Sword]], but the plan failed when Weirdwolf was unable to control the giant transtector's power. Using what he'd learned from piloting Galvatron, Tarantulas took things into his own hands by taking direct control of Metroplex and having him attack Maximus. The battle between Metroplex and Fortress Maximus ended with Fortress destroying Tarantulas's control device, and the scientist was arrested for his crimes. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 31|Bonus Edition Vol. 31}} He eventually broke out of jail and encountered [[Astrotrain (G1)|Astrotrain]], who agreed to hide him from the law in exchange for a transtector of his own. Tarantulas then found himself pressed to mass-produce these bodies for Astrotrain's master plan, and once he was done and expected to get along with his "fellow jailbird", Astrotrain promptly deemed him unnecessary and turned on him, sending him fleeing. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 40|Bonus Edition Vol. 40}} He next found refuge with Weirdwolf's faction of Decepticons, only to again be press-ganged into building bodies, this time for [[Full-Tilt]] and [[Trypticon (G1)|Trypticon]]. {{storylink|LG-43 Trypticon Project Chapter}}

===Ask Vector Prime===
To the best of [[Vector Prime]]'s knowledge, Tarantulas and [[Sideways (Armada)|Sideways]] did not think of themselves as relatives. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/05/15}}

[[Sideways (Armada)|Sideways]] claimed he showed up at the last second to help win [[#3H comics|the battle against Primal Prime]] but only referred to Ravage being there, not Tarantulas. {{storylink|Ask_Vector_Prime/Sideways_src#July_6.2C_2015|Ask Sideways, 2015/06/06}} He also claimed to know the secret origins of Tarantulas and the Tripredacus Council. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Sideways, 2015/06/28}}

===IDW Generation 1 continuity===
[[File:SinsoftheWreckers3-Mesothulas.jpg|left|thumb|250px]]

Mesothulas was a non-affiliated scientist who covertly worked for [[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]] during the early stages of the Autobot/Decepticon war. Mesothulas saw their relationship as symbiotic -— Prowl's imagination would feed into Mesothulas's desire to make the impossible real and vice versa. Their partnership resulted in many frightening advancements, such as [[stasis bullet]]s, [[Spark extractor|spark extraction]], [[Decepti-bomb]]s, and [[Aequitas]] itself. What he considered his greatest success, however, was the creation of artificial Transformer life—[[Ostaros]]. Prowl eventually began to have doubts about the ethics involved with Mesothulas's inventions, especially after the scientist unveiled his latest creation: a prison dimension Mesothulas dubbed the "[[Noisemaze]]". {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 3|Sins of the Wreckers #3}}

Unable to let Mesothulas continue his increasingly depraved experiments, Prowl asked [[Impactor (G1)|Impactor]] to dispose of Mesothulas and his creations by pushing the scientist into his own Noisemaze and destroying the entire contents of his workshop. The deed was done, although neither Prowl nor Impactor could bring themselves to put down Ostaros. Instead, Prowl falsified a new identity for him as the Autobot "[[Springer (G1)|Springer]]". {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 3|Sins of the Wreckers #3}} {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 5|Sins of the Wreckers #5}}

[[File:SinsoftheWreckers3 Ultra Energon.jpg|thumb|right|250px|''But then one day he went to that science lab'' ''That mutated spider came down'']]

Mesothulas was prepared for such an occurrence, though, having a personal jumpgate built into his body. Even still, the disorienting effects of the Noisemaze made it centuries before Mesothulas could remember and put it to use. Returning to his lab to find it empty, Mesothulas decided to follow where [[Shockwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Shockwave]] trode and went to [[Earth]]. There, he found and refined a sample of [[Ore-13|Ultra-Energon]] into [[obtenteum]], a super-fuel he used to power his future inventions. Inspired by the native wildlife, Mesothulas developed [[Chimeracon|perfect bio-disguises]] which nearly completely masked a Cybertronian's presence. One creature in particular, the spider, attracted Mesothulas's attention. He modified his own body with Chimeracon technology to gain a tarantula form and renamed himself "Tarantulas". {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 3|Sins of the Wreckers #3}}

At some point after adopting his new [[alternate mode]], Tarantulas kicked off the incident that would later be known as the "[[Roadbuster affair]]" - shrinking down to a tiny form, Tarantulas crawled into [[Roadbuster (G1)|Roadbuster]]'s ear and began whispering to the Autobot, convincing him to do terrible things to his recruits. Roadbuster assumed that he was hearing the voice of [[Mortilus]] and cheerfully started torturing and murdering his cadets on "Mortilus's" orders, while Tarantulas used the [[spark]]s Roadbuster unwittingly harvested to test the Chimeracon process. The Autobots found out just in time to save [[Hubcap (G1)|Hubcap]]. By that point Tarantulas had already fled the scene and everyone assumed that poor old Roadbuster had just gone round the bend. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 4|Sins of the Wreckers #4}}

Needing some real muscle on his side, Tarantulas became the patron of the anarchist group, [[Mayhem Attack Squad|Mayhem]], supplying them with similar bio-disguises. Meanwhile, he turned his attention to building a laboratory complex, the [[Tor]], within the Noisemaze. He also managed to turn Hubcap to his side, serving as a mole within the [[Autobot]] ranks whose [[Outlier]] skills let Tarantulas uncover Prowl's secrets, including the data containing Aequitas's proclamations. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 3|Sins of the Wreckers #3}} Even though Tarantulas admitted having been the voice of "Mortilus" that drove Roadbuster mad, the terrified Hubcap went with it in the hope of justice and getting a stronger body for himself. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 4|Sins of the Wreckers #4}}

[[File:SinsoftheWreckers3-Tarantulasspider.jpg|left|thumb|300px|''Oh, and now Meso crawls over everyone's walls'' ''And he's swingin' all over town'']]

With Prowl a wanted fugitive after his disastrous exploits on [[Caminus]], nobody noticed when Mesothulas ordered Mayhem to abduct Prowl. The disgraced tactician found himself in the Noisemaze, greeted by Tarantulas. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 1|Sins of the Wreckers #1}} Tarantulas suspended Prowl in his webs and presented Aequitas trial data, stolen from [[Verity Carlo]], as collateral for an open conversation between the two. {{Storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 2|Sins of the Wreckers #2}} With the greatest of anticipation, Tarantulas unveiled his new form to Prowl, who was horrified at his old collaborator's metamorphosis. Prowl suspected Tarantulas intended to use the war crimes data from Aequitas to simply blackmail him, but Tarantulas had more complex desires. Honestly, Tarantulas merely wished to work with Prowl again, to recreate the symbiosis of their original possibly-more-than-professional relationship. When Prowl still refused, he was placed in the company of his would-be rescuers: Verity, [[Springer (G1)|Springer]], [[Roadbuster (G1)|Roadbuster]], and [[Arcee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Arcee]], their most shameful, damning thoughts opened bare to him thanks to Tarantulas's new invention, [[Impetus]]. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 3|Sins of the Wreckers #3}}

Tarantulas explained to Verity that her current sickly condition was a result of exposure to the Aequitas supercomputer back on [[Garrus-9]]. Tarantulas attempted to force Prowl into Impetus, only for Prowl to try and talk him out of it, offering to tell him about Ostaros's ''true'' fate and lying that he had killed the artificial Transformer that day in the lab. Before Tarantluas could go through with his plan, Kup Impactor, and Guzzle crashed the Noisemaze with [[Debris]], threatening to tear the pocket dimension apart. Tarantulas ordered his Chimeracons to counterattack and Hubcap to transmit the Aequitas data across the galaxy, only for Hubcap to turn on his employer and free his Autobot prisoners. Arcee, Springer, and Roadbuster ganged up on the spider-bot, but he proved too powerful. Roadbuster managed to temporarily dispatch him by transforming into vehicle mode and ''ramming'' Tarantulas, sending both of them flying out the window. Tarantulas survived the fall by shrinking and crawling inside Roadbuster's head, just like old times.

[[File:K-PLUTCH.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The itsy-bitsy spider blew up Roadbuster's head.]]

Tarantulas taunted his old victim one last time... then expanded back to his full size, blowing open Roadbuster's head from the inside out.

As the surviving Autobots regrouped at the Tor, intending to destroy the entire complex, Tarantulas arrived, promising that before the day was done he would do "something weird" to everyone. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 4|Sins of the Wreckers #4}} Using mass displacement to enlarge his spider mode to massive size, Tarantulas used a retinal scanner to activate a final contingency plan: shrinking the Tor itself down to pocket size so that he can safely transport the facility out of the collapsing dimension. Tarantulas taunted Arcee, Verity, and Prowl, gloating that he'd healed Verity's illness for no reason other than to one-up Prowl. The mad scientist continued to grow as he ranted about his need for revenge on Prowl, prompting Prowl to reveal to his old friend that ''Impactor'' was the one to blame for the destruction of his lab. Realizing this, Tarantulas demanded to know what had become of Ostaros, and seconds later made the connection between Springer's voice and the fate of his creation. Thoughts of revenge momentarily forgotten, Tarantulas attempted to reunite with Ostaros, only to be halted by Arcee and Impactor. Arcee severed Tarantulas's beast mode head, using it to trip the retinal scanner and halt the Tor's contraction.

Having survived the loss of his beast mode head, Tarantulas managed to find Springer, earning himself a punch in the face from the green Autobot. His words were garbled by the energies of the Noisemaze, preventing any kind of meaningful dialogue between creator and creation. The pair struggled with one another as Springer repeatedly stabbed Tarantulas, neither of them able to speak or hear each other. Seconds later, Impactor detonated the entire Noisemaze, destroying almost all of Tarantulas's creations and perhaps the mad scientist with them.

Back in [[Nome]], Verity and Springer watched the northern lights, while a tiny spider spun a web in Springer's wheel-well... {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 5|Sins of the Wreckers #5}}

{{--}}

===''Beast Wars: Uprising''===
[[File:TriggerWarnings Tarantulas.jpg|right|thumb|300px|"HA HA HA! This section is not at all informative!"]]
{{charstubfiction|{{storylink|Trigger Warnings}} {{storylink|Derailment}}}}

==Games==
===''Beast Wars: Transformers'' video game continuity===
====''Beast Wars: Transformers'' video game comic====
[[File:BWgameUK-Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=0.85|Some great dialog there, Tarry.]]
Upon arriving on prehistoric Earth, the dangers of Energon radiation forced the Maximals and Predacons to take on beast alternate forms. Tarantulas picked up a tarantula in his palm and scanned it. Soon, Tarantulas spotted [[Cheetor (BW)|Cheetor]] moving in on the Predacons' crash site. Swearing revenge, Tarantulas transformed and attacked, and threatened to skin the Maximal alive. {{storylink|Beast Wars: Transformers video game advertising comic}}

====''Beast Wars: Transformers'' video game====
{{voiceactor|??? (English), ??? (Japanese)}}
[[File:BeastWarsPSX-Tarantulasstats.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.1|Sadly, there's no Eat Cheetor level.]]

Many Beast Wars combatants had managed to construct personal bases, customized to their personal tastes, due to the extended duration of the war. Tarantulas still preferred to operate out of a dark, underground lair. Tarantulas joined his fellow Predacons in battling not only the persistent Maximal resistance, but the interdimensional monsters known as the [[Skriix]].

=====Maximal campaign=====
After [[Rhinox (BW)|Rhinox]] had expanded his own personal base too close to Tarantulas's own territory, creating an opening for the Predacon to infiltrate Rhinox's personal metropolis. Tarantulas overtook Rhinox's base and reprogrammed its defenses, prompting the Maximals to retake it. The Maximal's offensive push forced Tarantulas to retreat deeper and deeper into the annexed territory, until he finally returned to his own lair. While he was in control of Rhinox's forces, however, Tarantulas had gained access to sensitive information, prompting the Maximals to follow Tarantulas back to his hide-out, and eliminate him once and for all.

=====Predacon campaign=====
Rhinox's expansion into Tarantulas's territory allowed the Predacons to infiltrate the Maximal's "Urban Area" and eliminate Rhinox. {{storylink|Beast Wars: Transformers (video game)|Beast Wars: Transformers}}

{{Note|Due to the nature of this game, a player may select various individual characters to perform the feats required in every level, and complete the game's narrative. Thus, any playable Maximal can fill the role of protagonist in Maximal Mode, and any playable Predacon can fill the role of protagonist in Predacon Mode. The various feats Tarantulas can accomplish throughout gameplay in Predacon Mode as the story protagonist are described on the [[Beast Wars: Transformers (video game)|''Beast Wars'' video game]] page.}}

===''Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals'' (N64)===
[[File:N64Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|Arboreal Camouflage Tarantulas? Blue Crusader Tarantulas?]]
{{voiceactor|[[Alec Willows]] (English), ??? (Japanese)}}

Tarantulas found a way to escape prehistoric Earth and return to Cybertron. The Beast Wars progressed in his absence for a time...

[[File:N64 Tarantulus.jpg|frame|left|Player 2 Has Entered His Stomach. Continue?]]
Then he came back, newly promoted and with an armada of Transwarp battleships under his command, out to end the Beast Wars and enforce the Tripredacus Council's will... {{storylink|Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals (N64)}}
{{note|Each character possessed an alternate ending, displayed if the game was beaten with said character. Each character has only their own ending listed on their pages, see the other characters' pages for Tarantulas's fate in those outcomes.}}

===''Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals'' (PS)===
{{voiceactor|[[Alec Willows]] (English), ??? (Japanese)}}
{{Storylink|Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals (PS)}}
{{charstubgame}}

===''Duel Fight Transformers Beast Wars''===
[[File:DuelFight Tarantulas.gif|thumb|upright=1.1]]
Megatron was capable of summoning Tarantulas forth to the battlefield during his attempts to acquire the super-powerful [[energon crystal]]. {{storylink|Duel Fight Transformers Beast Wars: Beast Warriors' Strongest Decisive Battle|Duel Fight Transformers Beast Wars}}
{{--}}

===''Transformers: Battle Tactics''===
[[File:BattleTacticsTarantulas.jpg|thumb|400px]]
Tarantulas participated in battles against a variety of opponents, both Autobots and Decepticons. Sometimes there were many of him! He appeared in three different bodies:
*''Tarantulas'' — This Super Rare character first appeared in the "Beast Wars: Episode 2" event, and could be recruited by by collecting 250 units of Cybermetal, 75 units of Transmetal, 35 event cores, and 10 cores of this character.
*''Tarantulas'' — This Epic Character was available in the August Daily Campaign and could be recruited by collecting 20 Alpha cores, 20 Beta cores, 20 Omega cores, and 10 cores of this character.
*''Tarantulas Transmetal'' — This Super Rare character was available to 2500 players during the second event of the "Transmetals: Episode 3" mini events.
{{storylink|Transformers: Battle Tactics}}
{{{!}}border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background:transparent"
{{!}}-
{{!}}style="background:transparent; border-right: 0px" valign="top"{{!}}
[[File:Battle-Tactics-Tarantulas-Timelines.jpg|thumb|400px Watch out!/Here comes the spider bike!]]
{{!}}style="background:transparent; border-right: 0px" valign="top"{{!}}
[[File:Battle-Tactics-Tarantulas-Transmetal.jpg|thumb|400px]]
{{!}}}
{{--}}

==Toys==
===Beast Wars===
[[File:BWtoy-Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|Interested in getting hog-tied with spider-butt rope? Running is the only 'no' available.]]
*'''Tarantulas''' (Deluxe, 1996/1997)
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''D-4'''
**''Accessories'': Launcher, 4 spider-leg missiles

: Part of the first wave of [[Beast Wars: Transformers (toyline)|''Beast Wars'' product]], Tarantulas transforms into an organic generic spider (''not'' a tarantula). His abdomen contains a spring-loaded missile launcher, which fires the anchor-missile kept in his spider-butt. This missile is attached by a string so he can hang from things like a real spider. The launcher can be removed and used as a [[robot mode]] weapon, using any of his front four spider-legs as missiles. Like all early Deluxe-and-up ''Beast Wars'' toys, he has two different robot mode "heads"; a robotic face and a "mutant" face. He is almost always depicted using the mutant face.

: There is a variation of this toy in the [[Hasbro]] line: Later releases (the smooth bubble) lack the yellow paint on his elbows.

: The [[TakaraTomy|Takara]] release of Tarantulas was originally identical to the Hasbro release. Later, a slightly color-altered version was released, using a brighter shade of green and a slightly darker gray. The color-altered version also replaced the blue eyes on the "robot" head and the black eyes of the "mutant" head with gold.

: This mold was used to make the first [[Blackarachnia (BW)/toys#Beast Wars|Blackarachnia toy]].

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1996/Predacon/Tarantulas/tarantulas.htm More information on Tarantulas at TFU.info]''

{{-}}{{anchor|VsDinobot}}
[[File:VS4-DinobotTarantuas.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|The classic battle of dino vs spider. We've all heard the tale.]]
*'''Brutal Showdown: Dinobot VS Tarans''' (VS pack, 1997)
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''VS-4'''
**''Accessories:'' Launcher, 4 spider-leg missiles

: In Japan, "Tarans" was available both as an individual and in a two-pack with "[[Dinobot (BW)|Dinobot]]". Both toys in this set were identical to their individual releases.

: Currently, it is unknown if the latter "more show-like" redeco of Tarantulas was ever released in a VS set.

{{-}}{{anchor|Transmetal}}
[[File:BWtoy-TarantulasTransmetal.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|I'm-a spawn of-a Unicron! I-a slice-a ya pizza!]]
*'''Tarantulas''' (Deluxe Transmetal, 1998)
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''D-44'''
**''Accessories'': Sawblade weapon

: Part of the first assortment of Deluxe [[Transmetal]]s, Tarantulas transforms into a robotic spider. He also has a third "transport" mode, flipping down a wheel from his abdomen and a saw-blade from under his beast-head, making a spidey-cycle. The saw detaches for robot mode to become a hand-held weapon.

: The Japanese version is slightly different, replacing the "TARANTULAS" [[tampograph]] with "DESTRON" and the Predacon sigil, plus his robot mode eyes are painted as a single visor to match the show look better.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1998/Predacon/Tarantulas/tarantulas.htm More information on Transmetal Tarantulas at TFU.info]''

{{-}}{{anchor|FKTransmetal}}
[[File:Tarantulas-FKTM.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|It's like Eight Legged Freaks, but classier, and with a pizza cutter.]]
*'''Tarantulas''' (Deluxe "Fox Kids" Transmetal, 1999)
**''Accessories'': Sawblade weapon

: A [[redeco]] of the Transmetal Tarantulas toy in grays, silver, and black. He and a Transmetal [[Cheetor (BW)/toys#TMFK|Cheetor]] redeco were part of the "[[Fox Kids]]" toys, so called for the advertisements for the Fox channel on the packaging (as the [[Beast Wars: Transformers (cartoon)|''Beast Wars'' cartoon]] had moved there from syndication). Internal Hasbro documents have listed this toy as "Steel Force Tarantulas",<ref>https://groups.google.com/d/msg/alt.toys.transformers/C30fV9dqOK0/gPO8D3N_PAUJ</ref> a name that did not make it to final packaging.

: These colors were used to depict Tarantulas in the ''[[Primeval Dawn]]'' and [[Transformers: Universe (comic)|''Universe'' comics]]. This toy was also later [[repurposing|repurposed]] as Tarantulas's [[Tarantulas (BWSG)|''Shattered Glass'' counterpart]]. With the toy's limited availability, secondary-market pricing for this item due to its fictional use has gone up.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1999/Predacon/FKTMTarantulas/tarantulas.htm More information on Fox Kids Tarantulas at TFU.info]''

{{-}}

===MicroVerse===
[[File:Tarantulas-Microverse.jpg|100px|thumb|I'm not [[Fantastic Four|The]] [[Thing]], I swear!]]
*'''Orcanoch''' ([[MicroVerse]], 1997)

: A small, non-transforming micro-figure of Tarantulas came with the [[MicroVerse]] [[Orcanoch]] playset. It was presumably painted based on the original design, as its upper body is copper rather than purple. Its only articulation is at the waist, letting it sit in any of the MicroVerse mini-vehicles or playset stations.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1997/Maximal/Orcanoch/orcanoch.htm More information on MicroVerse Tarantulas (via Orchanoch) at TFU.info]

{{-}}

===Beast Wars 10th Anniversary===
[[File:BWXtoy-Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|He's not here to help assemble Transmutate. That leg's his dinner.]]
*'''Predacon Tarantulus''' (Deluxe, 2006)
**''Accessories:'' Launcher, 4 spider-leg missiles

:This toy is a slight [[redeco]] of the original Tarantulas toy, more closely resembling Tarantulas's appearance in the cartoon (save the big Predacon faction sigil tampograph). Part of the second wave of [[Transformers: Beast Wars 10th Anniversary|''Beast Wars'' 10th Anniversary product]], he came with a DVD of the episode "[[Spider's Game]]," plus the left leg to [[Transmutate (character)|Trans-Mutate]].

:This release of Tarantulus has [[Misassembly|misassembled]] forearm/claws, which can be easily swapped to the correct position due to the [[ball joint]]ed elbows.
::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2006/Predacon/PredaconTarantulas/predacontarantulas.htm More information on 10th Anniversary Tarantulas at TFU.info]''

{{--}}

{{anchor|TimelinesToy}}
===Timelines===
[[File:Timelinestoy-TarantulasDOFP.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Everyone's second-favorite purple-and-yellow motorcycle two-Mini-Con-having servant of Unicron.]]
*'''Tarantulas''' (2015)
:Tarantulas is a redeco of ''[[Transformers United|United]]'' [[Scrapheap (G1)#United|Scrapheap]], itself a retool of ''[[Transformers (2010 toyline)|Transformers]]'' [[Wreck-Gar (G1)#Transformers (2010)|Wreck-Gar]] with a new head. He turns into a motorcycle. The toy is meant to represent his pre-''Beast Wars'' appearance. The toy also comes with two [[Arachnoid]]s that can be pegged into his left and right arms.

[[File:Timelinestoy-TarantulasDOFPslideshow.jpg|left|thumb|150px]]
:When first revealed at [[BotCon 2014]], the toy's color was different from the final release's appearance. The toy was lighter colored (including the Arachnoids!), his mouthplate was green, and his arms were entirely colored green, among many other differences.
{{2010Wreck-GarMold}}

{{-}}

===Combiner Wars===
{{anchor|DawnOfThePredacus}}
[[File:Timelines botcon tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|*Insert Spider-tank related caption here*]]
*'''Dawn of the Predacus''' ([[BotCon 2016]] box set)
**''Accessories'': Claw weapon, Combiner Foot/Hand

:A [[retool]] of ''[[Combiner Wars (toyline)|Combiner Wars]]'' [[Rook (Generations)#Generations|Rook]], "Predacon Tarantulas" features a new spider-esque head. As a ''Combiner Wars'' Deluxe limb he is able to combine with any Voyager Class toys released as part of the same subline but is, of course, intended to be combined with Sea Clamp, Cicadacon, Ramhorn, and Ravage to create [[Predacus]].

:Rather than 5mm hands, Tarantulas has forward-facing 5mm ports in front of his fists. This allows him to mount his claw-like accessory as an integrated weapon or use ''Combiner Wars'' combiner hands (one of which is included) as giant "Hulk hands".

:He was available exclusively at [[BotCon 2016]] in the "Dawn of the Predacus" box set with [[Ravage (G1)/toys#BotCon2016|Ravage]], [[Ram Horn#Combiner Wars|General Ramhorn]], [[Cicadacon#Combiner Wars|General Cicadacon]], and [[Sea Clamp#Combiner Wars|General Sea Clamp]].
{{CWRookMold}}
{{--}}

==Merchandise==
[[File:Tarantulasmutatingcard.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67]]
*'''Beast Wars Transformers Mutating Card Game''' (1997)
:Tarantulas was one of the 24 beast warriors to receive a battle card representation for the Beast Wars [[Beast Wars Transformers Mutating Card Game|card game]].
{{-}}
===Robot Heroes===
[[File:Robotheroestarantulasprimal.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|Don't take your eyes off your mech fluid, Primal.]]
*'''Optimus Primal vs Predacon Tarantulas''' (2008)

: Part of the second wave of ''[[Transformers: Universe (2008 toyline)|Universe]]'' ''[[Robot Heroes (toyline)|Robot Heroes]]'', this PVC figurine of Tarantulas' original body has articulation in the shoulders and neck. He was available only in a "Beast Wars Series" two-pack with [[Optimus Primal/toys|Optimus Primal]] (amusingly enough, the [[Maximal]] he also came with in the ''[[MicroVerse]]'' [[Orcanoch]] playset).

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2008/Predacon/RHTarantulas/tarantulas.htm More information on Robot Heroes Tarantulas at TFU.info]''

{{--}}

==Notes==
[[File:BWcommercial-Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|Not terribly appealing.]]
*Tarantulas is referred to as simply "Tarantula" in the [[commercial]] advertising his toy. This commercial and also early promotional pictures showed the original Tarantulas toy as being transparent orange, but the final toy was a clear deep purple instead. Presumably, this was for a little visual variety in the early line, which already had a largely tan toy ([[Dinobot (BW)|Dinobot]]) and a largely yellow toy ([[Cheetor (BW)/toys|Cheetor]]) in the Deluxe range, plus a Mega-sized Predacon arachnid then planned to be orange ([[Scorponok (BW)|Scorponok]]), and [[Tigatron]], who was at one point slated to be a traditional orange tiger.
[[File:TarantulasArm.jpg|upright=0.85|thumb|He tastes everything he holds.]]
*In the original control art for Tarantulas, the claws are shown in the same configuration as used in the show. In other words, the claws were somehow swapped during the assembly process and have remained as such on every version of the mold thereafter.
*The original Tarantulas toy has ''nine'' eyes in [[beast mode]], as does the show model. This makes characters' references to him as "eight-eyes" rather... interesting.
*Tarantulas's toy bios paint him as a really dumb ninja-like stealth assassin. Both of his [[Tech Spec]]s give him an intelligence of 4, even the numbers that accompany his ''Transmetals'' bio which mentions the cartoon's [[quantum surge]].
*In the first season, Tarantulas is characterized more as a cannibalistic, psychotic gourmand who happens to be the Predacons' Science Officer than as the mad scientist and master plotter he becomes from "[[Spider's Game]]" onwards. This is to the extent that his official season one profile makes several mentions of his eating habits, describes his sole interest as being "food", and summarizes his relationship with the other Predacons as simple disdain, as he considers them to all be potential meals.
*In the Japanese dub of ''Beast Wars'', Tarantulas retained his trademark cackle, but it was a little ''different''. His voice was very high-pitched and he shrieked almost constantly. His trademark laugh more closely resembled a wicked witch of sorts.
[[File:OptimalSituation Tarantulas insignia.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Tarantulas is one of Reprolabels's best customers.]]
*From "[[Optimal Situation]]" onwards, the [[Arachnoid]]s sport a Tarantulas-themed insignia.
[[File:TMtigatronboxback2.jpg|thumb|Pew! Pew!]]
*Tarantulas's origins are a bit complicated. He declares in "[[Other Victories]]" that he and the [[Tripredacus Council]] have origins other than Autobot and Decepticon, such that they would not be affected by the destruction of the Ark. Megatron's line about "Unicron's spawn" was apparently not intended by [[Bob Forward]] to be taken literally but as a generic Transformer insult; [[Larry DiTillio]] has said Bob "regrets" the line and they never had ''any'' fixed idea of Tarantulas' origin. Larry also said that had the show continued, the characters "might" be descended from the [[Cybertronian (faction)|Cybertronians]].<ref>[http://groups.google.com/group/alt.toys.transformers/msg/f06828ec523295c1?dmode=source&output=gplain Larry DiTillio's take on Tarantulas origins! at alt.toys.transformers]</ref> A Unicronian origin also creates potential canonical issues, as Tarantulas says that "under our rule, Cybertron will conquer the universe" ("[[Other Victories]]"), whereas Unicron's goal would have been to eat Cybertron. But, much like [[Terrorsaur (BW)|Terrorsaur]]'s line about "[[Darksyde (BW)|the dark side]]", this line developed a life of its own. Eventually this connection was reasserted in [[3H Productions]]' ''[[Primeval Dawn]]'' storyline, initially written by... Bob Forward. On the other hand, [[Fun Publications]]' "[[A Common Foe]]" depicted a [[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]]/Cybertronian origin for Tarantulas and the Tripredacus Council but left the specifics a mystery.
*Tarantulas's body in "[[Theft of the Golden Disk]]" is based on [[Ransack (Cybertron)|''Cybertron'' Ransack]]. His body in "[[Dawn of Future's Past]]", however, is a unique design not directly based on an existing toy, unlike the rest of the show characters in the story.
*Tarantulas is probably the only [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] [[Minion of Unicron]] who avoided being labeled a [[Decepticon]].
*From what can be observed from art on the back of Transmetal Tigatron's packaging, Tarantulas's vok-enhanced abilities include levitating and firing energy beams from his eye(s?) in [[robot mode]]. Neat!

===Foreign names===
*''Japanese:'' '''Tarans''' (タランス ''Taransu''), '''Tarantulas''' (タランチュラス ''Taranchurasu'')
*''Italian:'' '''Metal Tarantulas''' (Transmetal toy)
*''Korean:'' '''Tarantulas''' (타란튤라스 ''Talantyullaseu'')
*''Mandarin:'' '''Chīh-chū''' (Taiwan, 蜘蛛, "Spider"), '''Hóng Chīh-chū''' (Taiwan second and third season, 紅蜘蛛, "Red Spider"), '''Láng Zhū''' (China, 狼蛛, "Tarantula")
*''Polish:'' '''Tarantulator'''
*''Portuguese:'' '''Tarântulos''' (Brazil)

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Beast Wars Predacons]]
[[Category:Beast Wars 10th Anniversary]]
[[Category:Beast Wars: Uprising Predacons]]
[[Category:Cloud Predacons]]
[[Category:Combiner Wars]]
[[Category:Combiners]]
[[Category:Double agents]]
[[Category:Generation 1 Decepticons]]
[[Category:IDW Generation 1 Transformers]]
[[Category:Law enforcement]]
[[Category:Legends Predacons]]
[[Category:Minions of Unicron]]
[[Category:Ninjas]]
[[Category:Robot Heroes]]
[[Category:Scientists]]
[[Category:Timelines characters]]
[[Category:Toys "R" Us exclusives]]
[[Category:Transformers with three modes]]
[[Category:Transmetals]]
[[Category:Unicron-related characters]]
[[Category:Universe Predacons]]
[[Category:Universe (2008)]]
[[Category:Wings Universe Predacons]]

Tarantulas (BW)

2017-04-26T00:24:56Z

7Crimsonified7: /* Wings Universe */

{{factions|predacon|unicron|decepticon}}
{{disambig3|Tarantulas}}
{{featured}}
:''Tarantulas is a [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] from the [[Beast Wars: Transformers (franchise)|Beast Wars]] portion of the [[Generation 1 continuity family|Generation 1]] [[continuity family]].''

[[File:Tarantulasbw.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|[[BotCon 2000|"And fries! Lots of FRIES!"]]]]
'''Tarantulas''' is the scheming mad scientist of the Predacon crew. He's the type of mad scientist who experiments on living beings, cackling in his [[trademark]]ed laugh all the while, and then if things go wrong, happily eats what's left as his midday snack. The eating is what he was really looking forward to, anyway. It's this focused perversity that turns off even his fellow Predacons. Tarantulas's emotional detachment from their war also rubs his peers the wrong way. Fighting Maximals and following orders is just a required chore; his real passion is the unmentionable projects stashed in [[Tarantulas's lair|his "secret" lair]].

Nominally, Tarantulas was one of the Predacons to join [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] during his theft of the [[Golden Disk (Voyager)|Golden Disk]] and the search for [[Earth]]. In addition to being an utterly psychotic, sadistic sociopath, he has a record for treachery rivaled by few other Transformers. He is actually an [[Predacon Secret Police|agent]] of the [[Tripredacus Council]], which is trying to coax the Beast Wars toward an unspecified goal, where neither Autobot or Decepticon won the [[Great War (G1)|Great War]]. Who knows what other [[Unicron|dark secrets]] lie in his past.

If anything upsets Tarantulas, other than losing a potential meal, it's those pompous aliens who call themselves the [[Vok]]. He harbors a hatred for them strong enough to make him work to eliminate them by any means.

In some universes he can combine with the Tripredacus Council and [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] to form [[Predacus]].

Sometimes he is previously known as '''Mesothulas''' and sometimes his name is spelled as '''Tarantulus'''.

{{bigquote|You're ''insane.''|[[Tigerhawk]]}}
{{bigquote|So they ''saa''-aay! Wbrrwbrrbbppth!|Tarantulas|"[[Other Victories]]"}}

==Fiction==
===Toy bios===
[[File:PrimalVSMegs-Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Why Megatron, I do believe you're trying to seduce m— oh, hey, [[Razorbeast]].]]
Tarantulas was a sneaky, mysterious ninja feared across the galaxy. A master of the martial arts, he was suspected in the disappearances of many [[Human|Earthlings]], and rumors swirled of giant cocoons where he stored his prey. {{storylink|#Toys|Tarantulas bio}}

Tarantulas was guarding the Predacons' jungle-based genetics lab along with Megatron and Waspinator. When the Maximals discovered them, he engaged [[Razorbeast]] in combat briefly before Megatron called retreat and destroyed the lab. {{storylink|Optimus Primal vs Megatron!}}

After the [[quantum surge]], Tarantulas became a [[Transmetal]], with the accompanying vehicle mode to match. With his new set of wheels, Tarantulas didn't have to rely on stealth and deceit as much, instead speeding head-first into battle and using his new mechanical beast mode to overpower his enemies. {{storylink|#Transmetal|Transmetal Tarantulas bio}}
{{-}}

===Cartoon continuity===
====''Beast Wars'' cartoon====
{{voiceactor|[[Alec Willows]] (English), [[Scott McNeil]] (English, portions of "[[Other Voices, Part 2]]" only), [[Yūichi Nagashima]] (Japanese)|[[Alexandr Novikov]] (Russian, 1st dub), [[Hervé Joly]] (French), [[Lutz Harder]] (German), [[Riccardo Peroni]] (Italian), [[Junseok Song]] (Korean), [[Humberto Vélez]] (Latin American Spanish), [[Fábio Vilalonga]] (Portuguese)}}

Lieutenant Tarantulas of the [[Predacon Secret Police]] was one of [[Megatron (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Megatron]]'s original crew, a mole inside his organization feeding information back to the [[Tripredacus Council]] without his knowledge. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part 2)}} More than that, he was a ''direct'' agent of the Council and shared their origins, with an overall agenda to alter the timeline by going back to prehistoric Earth and completely destroying the [[Ark (G1)|''Ark'' and the Transformers within]]. {{storylink|Other Victories}} The plan went tits up though, as Megatron's ''Darksyde'' warship ended up crashing on an unidentified planet and contact with Cybertron was lost.{{storylink|Beast Wars (Part 1)}} Tarantulas carried on as normal despite this setback. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part 2)}}

[[File:TheWeb Tarantulas beast mode.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|Not arachnophobic, eh? I can fix that.]]
As Megatron's technical leader, he manned the scanners to appropriate beast forms based on the most powerful local creatures, choosing the form of an over-sized spider for himself. He cheerfully took part in the first battle of the [[Beast Wars (event)|Beast Wars]], only to succumb to energon buildup while the Maximals were escaping. {{storylink|Beast Wars (Part 1)}} The Predacons uncovered a stash of energon crystals atop a mountain, but were forced to fight in their [[beast mode]]s. Tarantulas and [[Rattrap (BW)|Rattrap]] fought in this manner until Megatron triggered a chain reaction which caused the energon to explode. {{storylink|Beast Wars (Part 2)}}

[[File:ChainofCommand Tarantulas firing.jpg|thumb|upright=1.34|Sure, he's fast on the draw, but he ALWAYS shoots himself in the foot.]]
It wasn't long before Tarantulas had set up his own [[Tarantulas's lair|underground lair]] to keep his experiments away from Megatron's prying eyes. After helping [[Scorponok (BW)|Scorponok]] recover a mega-cannon, Tarantulas managed to capture [[Cheetor (BW)|Cheetor]], trapping the young Maximal in a web in his lair with the intent of feeding later. Rattrap mounted a rescue, during which the cavern caved in on Tarantulas {{storylink|The Web}} Tarantulas was blasted by Rattrap during the battle at the [[Standing Stones]], and later accompanied Megatron and [[Terrorsaur (BW)|Terrorsaur]] to attack the ''Axalon'' after it appeared that [[Optimus Primal/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Optimus Primal]] had perished. After the Maximals got the ship's shields back up, he suggested to Megatron that they return to the Standing Stones. Unfortunately once there, the Maximals managed to retrieve Primal from the [[Vok probe|alien probe]] at the site, and Tarantulas was one of the first victims of the restored Maximal commander. {{storylink|Chain of Command (BW)|Chain of Command}}

Terrorsaur, his power boosted, defeated Megatron in combat before leaving Tarantulas in charge of the other Predacons. Tarantulas promptly tailed Terrorsaur to find out what his new power source was, and discovered it was a [[flying mountain]] topped with a cache of super energon. Before he could do anything with the knowledge, he encountered Rattrap, who'd come to destroy the mountain. Their fight ended with Tarantulas falling from the side of the mountain. {{storylink|Power Surge (episode)|Power Surge}} He subsequently took part in an attack on the Maximal base after a [[stasis pod]] crashed. While Megatron kept [[Dinobot (BW)|Dinobot]] distracted, Tarantulas and Scorponok ambushed the Maximal from behind. Unfortunately for them, Dinobot had time to activate the base defenses, and Tarantulas was blasted into the distance by the auto-guns. {{storylink|Fallen Comrades}}

When the Predacons finally captured a stasis pod, Tarantulas made sure that the [[protoform]] was given a spider beast mode, creating [[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]]. Megatron suspected he had ulterior motives, but was nonetheless pleased by the new soldier. Tarantulas seemed happy to follow Terrorsaur when the Predacon mounted another takeover attempt with the aid of Rattrap, but spent most of his time skulking around the ''Darksyde'' in search of rats to eat. He spotted Rattrap sneaking around, but the Maximal blasted him before he could do anything. He subsequently limped back to the others to find that Megatron had reasserted his leadership. {{storylink|Double Jeopardy}} After one of Scorponok's viruses turned Primal into a berserker, the Maximal leader broke into the Predacon base and, completely ignoring Tarantulas's attempts to stop him, pinned the spider to a wall using Tarantulas's own weapon. {{storylink|Gorilla Warfare}}

[[File:Tflocklens&tarantulas.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1|"Behold my latest invention... THE DISCO BALL VERSION 2.0!"]]
One of Tarantulas's many inventions, the [[transformation lock lens]], was instrumental in preventing the Maximals from contacting a [[temporal probe]] doing a flyby of the planet. He used it to ensnare [[Tigatron]] and Cheetor, then wreaked havoc with the Maximals' attempts to build a communications array, before he was finally defeated by Primal. Although his new toy was destroyed by the recovered Cheetor and Tigatron, the damage was already done, and the probe flew by uncontacted. {{storylink|The Probe}} After the Predacons discovered a Maximal spy camera in their base, they faked a mutiny and hid in a crevice. Tarantulas spent his nights being hugged like a stuffed toy by [[Waspinator (BW)|Waspinator]], and his days eating stray rats. While the Maximals repaired the ''Axalon'', the Predacons were discovered by Dinobot, and gave chase. Though they attacked the Maximal ship in an attempt to capture it, the affair ended with the ''Axalon'' crashing back to the ground. {{storylink|Victory (episode)|Victory}} After a Maximal victory, largely due to the efforts of Rhinox, Tarantulas captured the rhino in a web on Megatron's orders, so that he could be converted into a Predacon by the [[Transmuter (BW)|Transmuter]]. In return, the new Predacon poisoned him and Blackarachnia. {{storylink|Dark Designs}}

[[File:Spider'sGame Taratulas hauling stasis pod.jpg|thumb|upright=1.45|Ever the engineer, Tarantulas invents the low-tech equivalent of a tow truck.]]
Tarantulas detected another stasis pod landing in [[Grid Scavos]], but Megatron refused to let him go and assist in the recovery, much to his disgust. {{storylink|The Spark}} The next time a stasis pod crashed, Tarantulas was more prepared. From his lair, he used a [[magna pulse]] to disable both the ''Darksyde'' and ''Axalon'' to allow him to investigate without interference. Unfortunately for him, Blackarachnia had found his lair, and insisted on coming along to help. At the pod, Tarantulas reprogrammed the new arrival into a Predacon, but was disappointed that a beast mode had already been chosen, and [[Inferno (BW)|Inferno]] would not be another spider. In the confusion that followed, he made off with the real prize — the stasis pod itself. Unfortunately for him, Tigatron destroyed the pod before he could get very far, and he was forced to retreat when Megatron arrived. Later, in his lair, he inadvertently told Blackarachnia that the planet was doomed, and she realized he was intending to build an escape ship, however he threw her out before she could work out any more of his plans. {{storylink|Spider's Game}}

Tarantulas took part in a diversionary attack while Waspinator and Terrorsaur stole the Maximals' [[rectifier coil]]. After the Maximals went feral, the Predacons mounted a hunting expedition, though Tarantulas was stuck supporting the back end of Megatron's chair. {{storylink|Call of the Wild}} On another occasion, Tarantulas detected what appeared to be walking energon. Megatron realized that an earlier battle had left four of the Maximals contaminated and blinded, and ordered Tarantulas to send Terrorsaur to investigate. {{storylink|Dark Voyage}} After Waspinator was possessed by the ghost of [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]], Tarantulas took part in the attack on the ''Axalon'', and pointed out once they'd conquered it that their own base was now undefended. Megatron's answer was to leave Starscream in charge of the ''Axalon'', a decision which would come back to bite him later. {{storylink|Possession}}

[[File:Dinobottarantulasrattrapthelowroad.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.34|"See? I told you I was taller than Tarantulas."]]
During an attack on the Maximal base, Tarantulas was able to infect Rhinox with an [[energon discharge virus]], though he himself was injured by Dinobot during the retreat. He was tracked by Dinobot and Rattrap, but eventually turned the tables by getting the drop on them, only to be flattened by a huge boulder. After recovering, he took advantage of their incessant arguing by trying to get the drop on them again, only to be knocked unconscious by a double punch. Finally, Dinobot attempted to use Tarantulas's body as a hostage, only for Megatron to blast it aside. Perhaps his only consolation was that he avoided the indignity of the fate that befell the rest of the Predacons. {{storylink|The Low Road}}

With the return of the [[Vok|aliens]] a certainty, Tarantulas stole a [[transwarp cell]] from the ''Darksyde'', slagging Waspinator in the process. Megatron detected the theft and used Blackarachnia as a distraction while he remotely inserted his own programming into the cell. The two spiders later took part in an attempt to prevent Tigatron from escaping the Predacon base, and were squished by a boulder Dinobot had set up. They were relatively uninjured and able to haul their damaged comrades back to the ship. {{storylink|Before the Storm}} The two spiders teamed up again, infiltrating the Maximal base and disabling Rhinox and Dinobot while the other Maximals were busy with the latest alien construct to appear. They became aware that the planet's second moon had just been revealed as an artificial, alien ''doomsday weapon'' in disguise, with Tarantulas remarking it was "the beginning of the end" for the planet. {{storylink|Other Voices, Part 1}} In the cargo hold, Tarantulas used the transwarp cell and a stasis pod to construct a ship, but was interrupted by Inferno, who torched the spider. Fortunately, Blackarachnia entered Tarantulas's mind to obtain the information to complete the escape ship, and he was able to set up a permanent neural link between the two Predacons. {{storylink|Other Voices, Part 2}}

[[File:ComingFuzors1 Tarantulas lives.jpg|thumb|upright=1.55|A new look, and he didn't even have to [[Spider-Man|sell out]] to [[Iron Man|Tony Stark]] for it!]]
When the [[quantum surge]] caused by the "second moon's" destruction knocked out all of the Transformers on the planet, Tarantulas's body was upgraded to a [[Transmetal]] form, and he forced Blackarachnia to drag it from the Maximal base, even getting her to ignore Megatron's command to stay and fight the Maximals. {{storylink|Aftermath}} With Blackarachnia's hard work and some serious-looking electrical arc generators, Tarantulas was restored to life. Megatron soon called him to the battlefield, so he left Blackarachnia to root around in their leader's computer files: by this point, the loss of the "moon" and the damages to the planet had revealed it to be ''prehistoric Earth'' all along... {{storylink|Coming of the Fuzors (Part 1)}}

Using his new cycle mode, Tarantulas quickly reached the Maximals' position. During the fight, he kept in contact with her, until a shot by Dinobot put him temporarily out of commission. After he came around, Blackarachnia reported that she'd failed to get the data he needed. The Predacons were soon routed by the resurrection of Optimus Primal, and forced to return to base. There, Megatron and Tarantulas questioned Blackarachnia, only to be told the vital data had been lost. Neither of them believed her, but didn't call her out. {{storylink|Coming of the Fuzors (Part 2)}}

With his old lair destroyed by the Planet Buster, Tarantulas was fortuitous in that Megatron assigned him with Blackarachnia and [[Quickstrike (BW)|Quickstrike]] to check out a cave filled with energon. He quickly surmised that it would make an excellent new lair, and attempted to get his two comrades interested in going it alone. Blackarachnia was more interested in getting rid of the neural link the two of them shared, and cracked an energon crystal, sending feedback through the link, to force him to sever it. By a fortunate coincidence, the three Predacons were soon attacked by [[Silverbolt (BW)|Silverbolt]] and Rattrap, and during the battle Tarantulas was able to convincingly fake the destruction of the cave, allowing him to utilize it as his own lair. {{storylink|Tangled Web}} When Dinobot defected to the Predacon side, Tarantulas offered to verify his programming, but Megatron decided it wouldn't be a very good idea to let Tarantulas into Dinobot's processor. {{storylink|Maximal, No More}}

[[File:OtherVisits1 Tarantulas beast mode.jpg|left|upright=1.2|thumb|Downside: everything tastes like feet now.]]
Back in his lair, Tarantulas's instruments detected the aliens again, and he rushed off to the site. He arrived shortly after Tigatron and [[Airazor (BW)|Airazor]] had been abducted, and zapped Cheetor, but was forced to retreat when more Maximals arrived. He visited Megatron, claiming to no longer be under the tyrant's command, but willing to help. The Predacons returned to the alien site to set up equipment, during which Blackarachnia revealed that she had learned through the broken neural link that Tarantulas hated the aliens. {{storylink|Other Visits (Part 1)}} Megatron, Quickstrike, and Tarantulas recovered quickly from the energy wave put out by the new [[Metal Hunter|alien construct]], and after Tarantulas's [[refractive web]] was activated, the trio ventured inside. Once Megatron had control of the construct, he terminated his alliance with Tarantulas, dropping the Predacon from a great height. Infuriated, Tarantulas helped the Maximals attack the construct, infiltrating it along with Rattrap, and sabotaging the transwarp cells which Megatron installed, causing the ship to explode. {{storylink|Other Visits (Part 2)}}

Though a bug planted on Megatron's chair, Tarantulas learned that Blackarachnia had been sent to recover a new protoform, and took the opportunity to threaten her to try and extract the information he suspected she'd gained from Megatron's computers. Unfortunately for him, Silverbolt stepped in and defended Blackarachnia, shortly before an energon explosion separated everyone. Though Tarantulas found the stasis pod, [[Rampage (BW)|its contents]] found him, and his body parts were spread liberally over a wide area. {{storylink|Bad Spark}} Dinobot later tracked down Tarantulas in an attempt to find out what Megatron's latest scheme was. Though Tarantulas didn't know, Dinobot forced him to act as transport, and they soon found Megatron preparing to torch a valley fill of [[Protohuman]]s. Tarantulas took advantage of Dinobot's distraction to shoot the Maximal, only for Dinobot to drop a boulder on him. {{storylink|Code of Hero}}

[[File:Agenda3 Tarantulas button push.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Tarantulas presses the History Eraser Button.]]
Alerted by the [[transwarp wavefront]], the Tripredacus Council sent covert agent [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] to capture Megatron. The former Decepticon led the Maximals to apprehend Megatron, and Tarantulas assisted by taking down the ''Darksyde''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> defense system. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part 1)}} Megatron, much to his indignation, was later informed by Ravage that the spider was a lieutenant in the Predacon Secret Police; Tarantulas joined in the diss by laughing over a comm-screen at his former boss. Tarantulas was able to instruct the Maximals in the location of a stash of energon crystals that Megatron had hidden. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part 2)}} When Ravage was persuaded to change sides by the Predacon leader, Tarantulas appeared to come too, manning the [[transwarp cruiser]]'s weapons systems for an attack on the ''Axalon''. Alas, Rattrap chewed his way into the ship and tossed a couple of [[Fusion weaponry#Fusion grenade|bomb]]s at Tarantulas, which stuck to his hands before exploding. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part III)}}

Tarantulas survived, though, and was quickly put back together by his [[arachnoid]]s. He was repaired in time to witness the destruction of the ''Axalon''. {{storylink|Optimal Situation}} He was soon seen back at the Predacon base, working under Megatron's command once again with no mention of his former secession. {{storylink|Cutting Edge}} However, around this time he was also working on another scheme: restoring the ''[[Nemesis (G1)|Nemesis]]'', the flagship of the [[Decepticon]] fleet! At some point, he'd found it lying at the bottom of the ocean, and was ensuring it would not only fly again but had a Predacon control console and a transwarp cell that could take it back to Cybertron... {{storylink|Nemesis Part 1}}

He battled the Maximals alongside Megatron's [[cyber raptor]]s, taking the opportunity to try out his new Transmetal [[cyber venom]] to great success, though he was stomped on by a cyber raptor once the Maximals worked out how to destroy their controls. {{storylink|Cutting Edge}} He assisted in the construction of Megatron's [[disruptor cannon]], suggesting that they abduct an early human to complete the device when the other Predacons were unable to get too close to it due to the unstable power source. While the cannon was completed by [[Una]], she managed to use her knowledge of levers to tip a piece of heavy equipment on him. Though he survived that, Una had taken the cannon's stablizer crystal, and it exploded in the Predacons' faces when they tried to use it. {{storylink|Go with the Flow}}

[[File:CrossingRubicon Tarantulas fires on Silverbolt.jpg|thumb|left|260px]]
When the Maximals attempted to remove Blackarachnia's shell program, he revealed to Megatron that he had included "certain safeguards" that guaranteed she would not survive, and joined the other Predacons in an attack on the Maximals that was meant to disrupt the attempted shell removal. He fired the missile which knocked the Maximals' power off-line at a crucial instant, seemingly bringing an end to his "treacherous creation". Enraged by the death of his beloved, [[Silverbolt (BW)|Silverbolt]] attempted to kill the scientist, but was thwarted by [[Rampage (BW)|Rampage]], who was later defeated by a revived—and [[Transmetal]]ized—Blackarachnia. {{storylink|Crossing the Rubicon}}

Tarantulas participated in the Predacons' next attempt to retake the [[Ark (G1)|Ark]], utilising his latest invention to allow Quickstrike to take control of Optimus Primal... and ''that'' was when he made his move, at last. He manipulated [[Quickstrike (BW)|Quickstrike]] into throwing Megatron into the nearby lava while he himself set the Ark's engines to overload. Megatron survived his lava-dunking, gaining a new body in the process. However, he had lost his patience. While he'd tolerated Tarantulas's treachery, he could not tolerate incompetence. Tarantulas survived his punishment and fled back to his lair. {{storylink|Master Blaster}} This appears to have ''not'' been what Quickstrike thought he was going to do, and neither he nor Megatron had any idea why he'd planned to destroy the whole Ark.

[[File:TarantulasVok SignOfTheCross.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|"Save me, X-Men!"]]
Tarantulas was left ranting in his lair about how the Tripredacus Council's plans were wrecked, while his systems monitored the ''Nemesis'' (which was finished by this point). However, his rant and Nemesis plans were interrupted when the aliens—now revealed to be called the [[Vok]]—sent their emissary [[Tigerhawk]] arrived on Earth. Tarantulas let him take out the Predacons, then used his arachnoids to disable and capture him. Tarantulas intended to force the all-powerful being into his servitude by drawing the Vok influences out of his body and reprogramming him, and then have him obliterate the Ark: he cheerfully told the emissary that as he nor the Council had Autobot or Decepticon origins, they'd survive the resulting timestorm, turn Cybertron into a universe-conquering force, and one day even conquer the Vok themselves!

The scheme backfired, however, as his energy beam device expelled two ''actual Vok'' out of Tigerhawk. The formless spectres attempted to take over Tarantulas' body. Panicking, he made a religious sign to ward them off and then opened fire on them—a futile gesture that merely served to spin the energy device around 'til its rays were blasting him and his lab equipment. Overloaded by the beams, Tarantulas exploded, leaving nothing behind but his boots. The remainder of his equipment detonated seconds later, blowing the lair to rubble. Cheetor managed to rescue the inert Tigerhawk, and Tarantulas was presumed destroyed. {{storylink|Other Victories}}

Megatron knew that Tarantulas must have had some schemes on the go that the Predacons could pick up and use, and had his men search the ruins of the spider's lair. During this, he offhandedly referred to him as "[[Unicron's Spawn]]". He ended up discovering and using the working ''Nemesis''. {{storylink|Nemesis Part 1}}
{{-}}

====Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity====
=====Yokohama Decepticon Secret Base=====
[[File:Yokohama Unicron Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|100px]]
As part of a plot to destroy the [[2014]] [[Transformers Expo]] in [[Yokohama]] and the Cybertronian artifacts within, Taratulas, working on [[Unicron]]'s behalf, secretly granted [[Predacon computer|NAVI-ko]] a new body and intelligence regarding [[Yokohama Convoy|Nemesis Prime]]. True to plan, NAVI-ko was sent to activate the clone and guide him to the Transformers Expo. However, thanks to Nemesis Prime's inherent sense of justice, the plan failed. {{storylink|Yokohama Decepticon Secret Base}}

=====''Cloud''=====
{{charstubfiction|{{storylink|Wild (Cloud)|Wild}} {{storylink|TFC-A03}}}}

=====''Beast Wars Diorama Story''=====
[[File:BWDiorama Motorarm Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|left|A ravenous, sinister fiend... and Tarantulas.]]
Sometime after Starscream's arrival to prehistoric Earth, Tarantulas was confronted in battle by a time-displaced [[Motorarm (BWII)|Motorarm]], who fended off the Predacon with his Beetle Claw attack. Tarantulas was not present when the Autobots from [[Movie (franchise)|another universe]] and Maximals combined all of their energies to attack a team of Predacons and Decepticons. {{storylink|Motorarm Chapter}}
{{-}}

====3H comics====
Tarantulas was the inventor of the [[mind-drill]]. [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] "borrowed" it from him to get information out of [[Antagony (BW)|Antagony]]. {{storylink|Herald, Covenant, Schism, Paradox|Herald}}

[[File:Primevaldawn2 tarantulas matrix.jpg|thumb|Further proving the maxim: "If you want to steal the Matrix, you basically can."]]
Following the Beast Wars, Tarantulas's body returned to life, reanimated by the Vok powers he'd previously absorbed. The undead Tarantulas, along with a rebuilt Ravage (as [[Ravage (G1)|Tripredacus Agent]]), nurtured new troops to life through enigmatic means, growing [[Razorclaw (BW)|Razorclaw]] and [[Iguanus (BW)|Iguanus]] in tubes. {{storylink|Primeval Dawn Part 1}} {{storylink|Primeval Dawn II}}

The remaining Vok anticipated Tarantulas's plan to destroy the rest of them, take their power, and fashion the timestream to his desires, and so they assembled an army of their own consisting of [[Primal Prime]], [[Airazor (BW)|Airazor]], and [[Tigatron]]. Tarantulas met this opposition in battle, overwhelmed them, and triumphantly ripped the [[Matrix of Leadership]] from Primal Prime's chest. {{storylink|Primeval Dawn Part 2}}

Wounded critically, the Maximals withdrew to the Ark, while Tarantulas and his Predacons returned to his lair, where he directed them in the construction of a transwarp portal. Upon completion, Tarantulas planned to bring his stolen prize to his master, Unicron. Since his troops were getting restless, he promised them they could assault the Ark once they finished construction. Tarantulas was true to his word, and as Ravage led the Predacons against the Maximals, Unicron's spawn tried to stabilize the portal and prepared the Matrix for transport. {{storylink|Primeval Dawn Part 3}}

{{note|[[3H Productions]] dissolved before this storyline could be completed. Based on the subsequent ''Wreckers'' and ''[[Transformers: Universe (comic)|Universe]]'' storylines, it can be assumed that the Matrix of Leadership was restored to Optimus Prime's body at the end of this altercation, the Maximals were triumphant and used Tarantulas's portal to return home to Cybertron, and that Tarantulas somehow fled to Unicron.}}

After using the [[Divine Light]] to access [[Primus]]'s power, [[Cryotek (Universe)|Cryotek]] reanimated several [[Sharkticon (G1)|Sharkticon]] corpses into facsimiles of [[Megatron (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Megatron]]'s old subordinates, including one of Tarantulas. {{storylink|Wreckers: Finale Part II}}

[[File:Escape-Tarantulas.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|Tarantulus {{sic}} basically just never dies.]]

A year after the [[Great Reformatting]], the [[Unicron virus|influence]] of [[Unicron]] swayed an abducted [[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]] to the side of darkness. As she was escorted by [[Tankor (BM)|Tankor]] and [[Reptilion]] into the heart of the Chaos Bringer, she was surprised to see Tarantulas (still in his undead body) greet her as she joined the ranks of the [[Minion of Unicron|Minions of Unicron]]. She hissed with disgust while Tarantulas noted that it was just like old times. {{storylink|Escape (Universe)|Escape}}

Tarantulas had learned that [[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]] had been assembling the [[Child of Primus|Children of Primus]] to counter Unicron's Minions, and so he sent Blackarachnia on a mission to [[Primax 797.18 Epsilon|her home Cybertron]] to sever the link between the Transformers and [[Primus]] by invading [[Vector Sigma]]'s chamber and destroying Alpha Trion. He gave Blackarachnia a swarm of [[Piranacon (Universe)|Piranacon]]s and directions to the chamber through a structural weak point near the [[Rust Sea]]. {{storylink|Homecoming (Universe)|Homecoming}}
{{-}}

====''Transformers Legends'' anthology====
The [[Megatron (G1)|original Megatron]], now inside the mind of [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] after the latter planted the former's spark inside his body, berated the Predacon leader's failures—in particular, being led astray time and again by such treacherous subordinates as Tarantulas. {{storylink|A Meeting of Minds}}

====IDW ''Beast Wars'' comics====
One account states that when Tarantulas was born at the [[Pit (facility)|Pit]], a glitch in the process granted him insight into the fact that an alien force was manipulating the Predacons for its ends. Thus, Tarantulas became obsessed with whatever this force was. {{storylink|Transformers: Beast Wars Sourcebook|Beast Wars Sourcebook #4}}

Another account stated that Tarantulas was one of the [[Tripredacus Council]]'s covert agents, working for them since before the Great Wars began to be recorded. As a key member of the council's schemes, Tarantulas helped develop the combiner technology that led to [[Predacus]]. {{storylink|#Combiner Wars|''Combiner Wars'' Tarantulas bio}}

Before his travels off-world, Tarantulas worked in tandem with the Tripredacus Council, who sought to unite Cybertron under a single, "purer" race. As the Great War drew to a close, Tarantulas received field intelligence reporting startling news: both [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]] and [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]] had died in a terrible confrontation between their forces. Though his masters weren't particularly moved by this turn of events, [[Megatron (BW)|a renegade]] within their army's ranks was. It became clear to the council that this upstart would resume the offensive against the enemy forces despite being ordered not to, and so Tarantulas was sent back out into the field to try and prevent any further complications from arising out of the situation.

While Tarantulas was away, the Council's secret base was discovered, and due to an [[Axalon (BW)|exploration vessel]] accidentally getting in its path, the transmatter bomb the Council had attempted to launch, to reformat all of Cybertron at once, was deflected from its proper course. Ram Horn, Cicadacon, Sea Clamp, and Ravage all met up with Tarantuals in the field, and confronted the gestalt [[Predaking (G1)|Predaking]], who was among the Decepticons causing dissension in their ranks. Tarantulas and his allies isolated him on the battlefield, and merged into their own gestalt form, [[Predacus]], to slay him.

Tarantulas next met with the upstart now calling himself "Megatron", and told him that the transmatter raining down on the planet was the result of a doomsday weapon of Galvatron's going off, triggered by the mad tyrant's death. He next informed Megatron that Predaking has comitted suicide out of shame for his involvement in Galvatron's plans. The Tripredacus Council had hoped these lies would be enough to dissuade Megatron from continuing hostilities, but this was not the case, and so moved on to plan B: sniping Megatron with a stun beam, and surrendering to the Autobots themselves.

For the "great risks" Tarantulas took towards the pursuit of peace, he was granted amnesty after the signing of the Pax Cybertronia. He had a hearty laugh at the expense of the Autobots' gullibility over this. {{storylink|Dawn of the Predacus}}

During his time on Earth, Tarantulas discovered the force he was obsessed with since birth was the [[Vok]]. {{storylink|Transformers: Beast Wars Sourcebook|Beast Wars Sourcebook #4}} He also programmed the Predacons' mobile fortress, the [[Arachnid]], utilizing his own personality programs to give it some form of sentience, accompanied by Tarantulas's own tendency for cruelty. {{storylink|Transformers: Beast Wars Sourcebook|Beast Wars Sourcebook #1}}

While [[Magmatron]] surveyed the timestream, he witnessed several key events during the Beast Wars. Among these was Tarantulas in his original "beast" body skulking in his lair. {{storylink|The Gathering issue 1|The Gathering #1}}

====SD BotCon====
Tarantulas joined Ravage at a bar to [[Dawn of the Predacus|laugh maniacally over drinks]], only for the pair to be approached by [[Beetle]] after their fourth outburst; the pair were being kicked out since everyone else was tired of their cackling. Thankfully, Tarantulas knew of a place where they could laugh to their hearts' content... a children's ball pit! {{storylink|SD SG#SDBC1|SD BotCon #1}}

====''Timelines''====
[[File:TheftOfGoldenDisk-Tarantulas.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.66|What y'wanna do? Wanna be hackers? Code crackers? Slackers? Wastin' time with all the chatroom yakkers? WHAT?]]
Tarantulas decoded the information on the [[Golden Disk (Voyager)|Golden Disk]] which had been freshly stolen by Megatron. He thought this was quite hilarious, but then, he thinks that about everything. {{storylink|Theft of the Golden Disk}}

[[File:Tarantulasdawn.jpg|thumb|See? A Planet X key in the corner of the pic. He's working for Unicron! Get him!]]
As [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] and his rogue band of Predacons escaped [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] in their stolen ship, the ''[[Darksyde (BW)|Darksyde]]'', Tarantulas was in charge of scanning the disk for a desired set of coordinates. While Megatron was not watching, he was in secret communication with [[Cicadacon|General Cicadacon]] of the [[Tripredacus Council]].

Using the decoded coordinates, the ''Darksyde'' opened a [[transwarp]] portal, which it and the [[Axalon (BW)|''Axalon'']] passed through. {{storylink|Dawn of Future's Past}}

Two weeks after [[Airazor (BW)|Airazor]] was reborn on [[Earth]], Tarantulas fought to defend an orbital weapon from the Maximals. The launching pad was destroyed by Airazor. {{storylink|The Razor's Edge}}
{{-}}

====''Wings Universe''====
[[File:Tarantulasemerges-ACommonFoe.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1] Well, howdy! Just scratching the wall, don't mind me!]]]
One of four mysterious protoforms found by [[Sky-Byte (RID)#Wings Universe|Sky-Byte]] in the laboratory of [[Jhiaxus (G2)#Wings Universe|Jhiaxus]] while trying to save his former collaborator's clones from the Autobots, {{storylink|A Common Foe}} Tarantulas and [[Tripredacus Council|the other three]] pledged allegiance to the Predacons in suspiciously quick time.<ref name="TFSS3bio">"Tarantulas is a being without a history. In his rush to remove Jhiaxus' clones from his laboratory before the Autobots discovered its location, Sky-Byte mistakenly extracted four stasis pods of unknown origin. The emergent robots immediately declared for the Predacon cause, some might say suspiciously quickly. Of the four robots, Tarantulas has since discovered an endless fascination with experimental science, especially seeking any opportunity for vivisection."</ref>

=====''Hot Shot's Bot Thoughts''=====
The Tarantulas of [[Primax 509.28 Epsilon]] was interviewed by [[Hot Shot (Armada)|Shotimus Prime]], who seemed determined to prove that Tarantulas was also [[Sideways (Armada)|Sideways]]. Annoyed by Shotimus's badgering, Tarantulas eventually resorted to pulling the Matrix out of Shotimus's chest, reverting him to Hot Shot, and then hitting him repeatedly with it. {{storylink|Hot Shot's Bot Thoughts}}

====Waspscream continuity====
In [[Primax 208.06 Zeta]], Tarantulas joined [[Waspinator (BW)|Waspscream]]'s successful coup against Megatron. Waspscream then convinced Tarantulas to decode Megatron's Golden Disk by promising to make Tarantulas his lieutenant upon returning to Cybertron and deposing the Tripredacus Council. Unfortunately en route, Megatron escaped, conquered Cybertron with a [[transformation virus]], and turned the bodies of Cybertron's populace into [[Vehicon (BM)|Vehicon]]s. Upon arrival, Waspscream's crewmembers who had [[transmetal]] forms managed to survive the virus and escape Megatron's clutches, eventually finding their way to the [[Oracle (BM)|Oracle]], who granted them [[technorganic]] forms. Waspscream's Predacons waged a valiant Spark War against the Vehicons, eventually achieving victory. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/08/16}}

===''Beast Wars Metals'' manga===
[[File:TarantulasMangaMouth01.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Tarantulas raises an army of mannequins to strike terror into his foes.]]

Following the [[Quantum surge]], Tarantulas was upgraded into a [[Transmetal]]. Scheming with [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] within their floating island base, [[Hindenburg]], Tarantulas developed a plan to revive the deceased [[Optimus Primal]] as a [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] slave. Recovering Primal's mindless, raging body, Tarantulas staged a strange voodoo ceremony (complete with boiling cauldron). As Megatron pricked his finger and prepared to use his mutated blood to turn Primal's rampaging body into his slave, the spark of Optimus Primal returned to it just in the nick of time. As Primal turned into a Transmetal, Tarantulas began to celebrate, convinced that his plan had worked out better than he had thought, unaware of what was really going on. In fact, he was ''so'' convinced that Primal was now a Predacon slave, that he ordered the monkey to give him a shoulder massage. Optimus Primal proceeded to knock Tarantulas's block off. {{storylink|Beast Wars Metals issue 1|Beast Wars Metals #1}}

Tarantulas pulled himself together and confronted Tigatron, only to be promptly sliced in half. {{storylink|Beast Wars Metals issue 2|Beast Wars Metals #2}}

Undeterred, he taped himself back together and planted an [[arachnoid]] in Tigatron which gave Tarantulas control of the Maximal samurai's mind and body. {{storylink|Beast Wars Metals issue 3|Beast Wars Metals #3}} Airazor linked her mind to Tigatron's in an attempt to free her beloved and while her body fought Tigatron, Airazor's consciousness fought Tarantulas and his virtual minions. Ultimately, with Blackarachnia's help, Tigatron's mind was freed, though Airazor died in the process, killed by the mind-controlled Tigatron. Optimus Primal arrived and promptly stomped Tarantulas to death and blew his body to pieces. {{storylink|Beast Wars Metals issue 4|Beast Wars Metals #4}}

Shortly afterward, the energies from sparks freed from an obliterated [[Rampage (BW)|Rampage]] brought Tarantulas back to life as a mindless zombie. He fought Optimus Primal but was destroyed for good by Primal's rocket-fists. {{storylink|Beast Wars Metals issue 5|Beast Wars Metals #5}}

===''Transformers Legends'' anthology===
When [[human]] archaeologists uncovered a cave filled with primitive language, [[Mini-Con]] [[Laserbeak (Armada)|Laserbeak]] translated it for them. The markings told of a time when the Maximals and Predacons crash-landed on prehistoric Earth, though the stranded Transformers were seen by the protohumans as gods. The "spider-god" and the "[[Waspinator (BW)|wasp-god]]," under instruction from their [[Megatron (BW)|leader]], enslaved the humans for the purposes of excavating "[[Energon|glowing rose crystals]]." Eventually, a "[[Silverbolt (BW)|wolf-god]]" came, and had a fierce battle with the spider, allowing the captive humans to flee. The spider was defeated by the wolf, and then buried underground in a cave-in. {{storylink|Fire in the Dark}}

====Ask Vector Prime====
In [[Aurex 1104.30-JH Zeta]], Tarantulas had his own agenda on prehistoric Earth. He deployed his [[Arachnoid]]s across the globe to search for traces of [[Super Energon]], accumulating a large cache of the powerful substance. Optimus Primal sacrificed himself to hijack Tarantulas's makeshift craft and destroy it in orbit, causing a [[Quantum surge|Super Energon Transwarp Explosion]] which granted a [[Transmetal]] upgrade to many participants in the conflict as well as created the [[Fuzor]]s. Later, Megatron attempted to use Tarantulas's secret experiments in a last-ditch effort to turn the tide, but ultimately, the Maximals emerged victorious in the war for the [[Mini-Con]]s. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/08/13}}

===''Transformers Legends'' comic===
Tarantulas sneakily browsed the toys for sale at [[Transformers Celebration 2014]]. {{storylink|Legends Bonus Vol.}} The head of [[Tera-Kura Co.]]'s science department and an expert at building robots, he he was responsible for production of their [[Nightbird (G1)|Nightbird]] clones. One day he was approached by the [[Decepticon]] [[Headmaster (technology)|Headmasters]] of [[OG World|another universe]], who offered him use of their technology in exchange for his help in building them new [[transtector]]s. Realizing he could use this tech to conquer the [[Legends Universe]] for himself, Tarantulas accepted. {{storylink|Headmasters Chapter Prologue}} Once a partnership between the Decepticons and Tera-Kura had been formed, he used data stolen from the [[Autobot]] Headmasters to build a body for [[Skullcruncher (G1)|Skullcruncher]] as well as the drone [[Batora]]. Seeking to eliminate the Autobots, his rivals on the technology market, he and [[Weirdwolf (G1)|Weirdwolf]] then sent out Skullcruncher to lure out and destroy them, but the Headmaster was defeated. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 22|Bonus Edition Vol. 22}} Tarantulas's boss, [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]], chewed them out over their violent approach, leading to a disgruntled Tarantulas building a body for Megatron that would turn him into the destructive [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]]. In the end, Megatron resisted the body and taught them a lesson, though Tarantulas pointed out that as he'd planned, Galvatron's destruction had increased Tera-Kura's sales. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 23|Bonus Edition Vol. 23}}

Not ones to give up, Tarantulas and Weirdwolf had [[Mindwipe (G1)|Mindwipe]] hypnotize Megatron back into Galvatron only for [[Blurr (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Blurr]] to undo the spell. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 25|Bonus Edition Vol. 25}} He was present at the office when [[Scourge (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Scourge]] attempted to take over Tera-Kura. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 26|Bonus Edition Vol. 26}} When a group of [[Nightbeat (G1)|mass-produced Headmasters]] from [[Axalon Trading Company|Autobot Axalon Trading Company]] started stealing Decepticon transtectors on the orders of [[Rewind (G1)|Rewind]], Tarantulas responded by activating the Galvatron body's mask, briefly brainwashing the unfortunate [[Rattrap (BW)|Rattrap]] into being evil. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 28|Bonus Edition Vol. 28}} Since his Megatron plan wasn't working out, Tarantulas chose to enter the Galvatron body and pilot it himself, using it to defeat Megatron and use his head mode as a soccer ball. Though he was defeated by [[Wheelie (G1)|Wheelie]] and [[Shūta Gō]], he was happy with the data he'd gathered about controlling a transtector. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 29|Bonus Edition Vol. 29}} He then finished a new transtector for Weirdwolf, shocking its owner by making it sentient (and revealing that Skullcruncher's had been so all along). {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 30|Bonus Edition Vol. 30}}

Tarantulas was initially gleeful when Tera-Kura purchased [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]], but quickly grew unsatisfied and wanted control of ''both'' Metroplex and Autobot Axalon's new base, [[Fortress Maximus (G1)|Maximus]]. He had Weirdwolf infiltrate Maximus and take it for Tera-Kura by using the [[Master Sword]], but the plan failed when Weirdwolf was unable to control the giant transtector's power. Using what he'd learned from piloting Galvatron, Tarantulas took things into his own hands by taking direct control of Metroplex and having him attack Maximus. The battle between Metroplex and Fortress Maximus ended with Fortress destroying Tarantulas's control device, and the scientist was arrested for his crimes. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 31|Bonus Edition Vol. 31}} He eventually broke out of jail and encountered [[Astrotrain (G1)|Astrotrain]], who agreed to hide him from the law in exchange for a transtector of his own. Tarantulas then found himself pressed to mass-produce these bodies for Astrotrain's master plan, and once he was done and expected to get along with his "fellow jailbird", Astrotrain promptly deemed him unnecessary and turned on him, sending him fleeing. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 40|Bonus Edition Vol. 40}} He next found refuge with Weirdwolf's faction of Decepticons, only to again be press-ganged into building bodies, this time for [[Full-Tilt]] and [[Trypticon (G1)|Trypticon]]. {{storylink|LG-43 Trypticon Project Chapter}}

===Ask Vector Prime===
To the best of [[Vector Prime]]'s knowledge, Tarantulas and [[Sideways (Armada)|Sideways]] did not think of themselves as relatives. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/05/15}}

[[Sideways (Armada)|Sideways]] claimed he showed up at the last second to help win [[#3H comics|the battle against Primal Prime]] but only referred to Ravage being there, not Tarantulas. {{storylink|Ask_Vector_Prime/Sideways_src#July_6.2C_2015|Ask Sideways, 2015/06/06}} He also claimed to know the secret origins of Tarantulas and the Tripredacus Council. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Sideways, 2015/06/28}}

===IDW Generation 1 continuity===
[[File:SinsoftheWreckers3-Mesothulas.jpg|left|thumb|250px]]

Mesothulas was a non-affiliated scientist who covertly worked for [[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]] during the early stages of the Autobot/Decepticon war. Mesothulas saw their relationship as symbiotic -— Prowl's imagination would feed into Mesothulas's desire to make the impossible real and vice versa. Their partnership resulted in many frightening advancements, such as [[stasis bullet]]s, [[Spark extractor|spark extraction]], [[Decepti-bomb]]s, and [[Aequitas]] itself. What he considered his greatest success, however, was the creation of artificial Transformer life—[[Ostaros]]. Prowl eventually began to have doubts about the ethics involved with Mesothulas's inventions, especially after the scientist unveiled his latest creation: a prison dimension Mesothulas dubbed the "[[Noisemaze]]". {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 3|Sins of the Wreckers #3}}

Unable to let Mesothulas continue his increasingly depraved experiments, Prowl asked [[Impactor (G1)|Impactor]] to dispose of Mesothulas and his creations by pushing the scientist into his own Noisemaze and destroying the entire contents of his workshop. The deed was done, although neither Prowl nor Impactor could bring themselves to put down Ostaros. Instead, Prowl falsified a new identity for him as the Autobot "[[Springer (G1)|Springer]]". {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 3|Sins of the Wreckers #3}} {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 5|Sins of the Wreckers #5}}

[[File:SinsoftheWreckers3 Ultra Energon.jpg|thumb|right|250px|''But then one day he went to that science lab'' ''That mutated spider came down'']]

Mesothulas was prepared for such an occurrence, though, having a personal jumpgate built into his body. Even still, the disorienting effects of the Noisemaze made it centuries before Mesothulas could remember and put it to use. Returning to his lab to find it empty, Mesothulas decided to follow where [[Shockwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Shockwave]] trode and went to [[Earth]]. There, he found and refined a sample of [[Ore-13|Ultra-Energon]] into [[obtenteum]], a super-fuel he used to power his future inventions. Inspired by the native wildlife, Mesothulas developed [[Chimeracon|perfect bio-disguises]] which nearly completely masked a Cybertronian's presence. One creature in particular, the spider, attracted Mesothulas's attention. He modified his own body with Chimeracon technology to gain a tarantula form and renamed himself "Tarantulas". {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 3|Sins of the Wreckers #3}}

At some point after adopting his new [[alternate mode]], Tarantulas kicked off the incident that would later be known as the "[[Roadbuster affair]]" - shrinking down to a tiny form, Tarantulas crawled into [[Roadbuster (G1)|Roadbuster]]'s ear and began whispering to the Autobot, convincing him to do terrible things to his recruits. Roadbuster assumed that he was hearing the voice of [[Mortilus]] and cheerfully started torturing and murdering his cadets on "Mortilus's" orders, while Tarantulas used the [[spark]]s Roadbuster unwittingly harvested to test the Chimeracon process. The Autobots found out just in time to save [[Hubcap (G1)|Hubcap]]. By that point Tarantulas had already fled the scene and everyone assumed that poor old Roadbuster had just gone round the bend. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 4|Sins of the Wreckers #4}}

Needing some real muscle on his side, Tarantulas became the patron of the anarchist group, [[Mayhem Attack Squad|Mayhem]], supplying them with similar bio-disguises. Meanwhile, he turned his attention to building a laboratory complex, the [[Tor]], within the Noisemaze. He also managed to turn Hubcap to his side, serving as a mole within the [[Autobot]] ranks whose [[Outlier]] skills let Tarantulas uncover Prowl's secrets, including the data containing Aequitas's proclamations. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 3|Sins of the Wreckers #3}} Even though Tarantulas admitted having been the voice of "Mortilus" that drove Roadbuster mad, the terrified Hubcap went with it in the hope of justice and getting a stronger body for himself. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 4|Sins of the Wreckers #4}}

[[File:SinsoftheWreckers3-Tarantulasspider.jpg|left|thumb|300px|''Oh, and now Meso crawls over everyone's walls'' ''And he's swingin' all over town'']]

With Prowl a wanted fugitive after his disastrous exploits on [[Caminus]], nobody noticed when Mesothulas ordered Mayhem to abduct Prowl. The disgraced tactician found himself in the Noisemaze, greeted by Tarantulas. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 1|Sins of the Wreckers #1}} Tarantulas suspended Prowl in his webs and presented Aequitas trial data, stolen from [[Verity Carlo]], as collateral for an open conversation between the two. {{Storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 2|Sins of the Wreckers #2}} With the greatest of anticipation, Tarantulas unveiled his new form to Prowl, who was horrified at his old collaborator's metamorphosis. Prowl suspected Tarantulas intended to use the war crimes data from Aequitas to simply blackmail him, but Tarantulas had more complex desires. Honestly, Tarantulas merely wished to work with Prowl again, to recreate the symbiosis of their original possibly-more-than-professional relationship. When Prowl still refused, he was placed in the company of his would-be rescuers: Verity, [[Springer (G1)|Springer]], [[Roadbuster (G1)|Roadbuster]], and [[Arcee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Arcee]], their most shameful, damning thoughts opened bare to him thanks to Tarantulas's new invention, [[Impetus]]. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 3|Sins of the Wreckers #3}}

Tarantulas explained to Verity that her current sickly condition was a result of exposure to the Aequitas supercomputer back on [[Garrus-9]]. Tarantulas attempted to force Prowl into Impetus, only for Prowl to try and talk him out of it, offering to tell him about Ostaros's ''true'' fate and lying that he had killed the artificial Transformer that day in the lab. Before Tarantluas could go through with his plan, Kup Impactor, and Guzzle crashed the Noisemaze with [[Debris]], threatening to tear the pocket dimension apart. Tarantulas ordered his Chimeracons to counterattack and Hubcap to transmit the Aequitas data across the galaxy, only for Hubcap to turn on his employer and free his Autobot prisoners. Arcee, Springer, and Roadbuster ganged up on the spider-bot, but he proved too powerful. Roadbuster managed to temporarily dispatch him by transforming into vehicle mode and ''ramming'' Tarantulas, sending both of them flying out the window. Tarantulas survived the fall by shrinking and crawling inside Roadbuster's head, just like old times.

[[File:K-PLUTCH.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The itsy-bitsy spider blew up Roadbuster's head.]]

Tarantulas taunted his old victim one last time... then expanded back to his full size, blowing open Roadbuster's head from the inside out.

As the surviving Autobots regrouped at the Tor, intending to destroy the entire complex, Tarantulas arrived, promising that before the day was done he would do "something weird" to everyone. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 4|Sins of the Wreckers #4}} Using mass displacement to enlarge his spider mode to massive size, Tarantulas used a retinal scanner to activate a final contingency plan: shrinking the Tor itself down to pocket size so that he can safely transport the facility out of the collapsing dimension. Tarantulas taunted Arcee, Verity, and Prowl, gloating that he'd healed Verity's illness for no reason other than to one-up Prowl. The mad scientist continued to grow as he ranted about his need for revenge on Prowl, prompting Prowl to reveal to his old friend that ''Impactor'' was the one to blame for the destruction of his lab. Realizing this, Tarantulas demanded to know what had become of Ostaros, and seconds later made the connection between Springer's voice and the fate of his creation. Thoughts of revenge momentarily forgotten, Tarantulas attempted to reunite with Ostaros, only to be halted by Arcee and Impactor. Arcee severed Tarantulas's beast mode head, using it to trip the retinal scanner and halt the Tor's contraction.

Having survived the loss of his beast mode head, Tarantulas managed to find Springer, earning himself a punch in the face from the green Autobot. His words were garbled by the energies of the Noisemaze, preventing any kind of meaningful dialogue between creator and creation. The pair struggled with one another as Springer repeatedly stabbed Tarantulas, neither of them able to speak or hear each other. Seconds later, Impactor detonated the entire Noisemaze, destroying almost all of Tarantulas's creations and perhaps the mad scientist with them.

Back in [[Nome]], Verity and Springer watched the northern lights, while a tiny spider spun a web in Springer's wheel-well... {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 5|Sins of the Wreckers #5}}

{{--}}

===''Beast Wars: Uprising''===
[[File:TriggerWarnings Tarantulas.jpg|right|thumb|300px|"HA HA HA! This section is not at all informative!"]]
{{charstubfiction|{{storylink|Trigger Warnings}} {{storylink|Derailment}}}}

==Games==
===''Beast Wars: Transformers'' video game continuity===
====''Beast Wars: Transformers'' video game comic====
[[File:BWgameUK-Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=0.85|Some great dialog there, Tarry.]]
Upon arriving on prehistoric Earth, the dangers of Energon radiation forced the Maximals and Predacons to take on beast alternate forms. Tarantulas picked up a tarantula in his palm and scanned it. Soon, Tarantulas spotted [[Cheetor (BW)|Cheetor]] moving in on the Predacons' crash site. Swearing revenge, Tarantulas transformed and attacked, and threatened to skin the Maximal alive. {{storylink|Beast Wars: Transformers video game advertising comic}}

====''Beast Wars: Transformers'' video game====
{{voiceactor|??? (English), ??? (Japanese)}}
[[File:BeastWarsPSX-Tarantulasstats.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.1|Sadly, there's no Eat Cheetor level.]]

Many Beast Wars combatants had managed to construct personal bases, customized to their personal tastes, due to the extended duration of the war. Tarantulas still preferred to operate out of a dark, underground lair. Tarantulas joined his fellow Predacons in battling not only the persistent Maximal resistance, but the interdimensional monsters known as the [[Skriix]].

=====Maximal campaign=====
After [[Rhinox (BW)|Rhinox]] had expanded his own personal base too close to Tarantulas's own territory, creating an opening for the Predacon to infiltrate Rhinox's personal metropolis. Tarantulas overtook Rhinox's base and reprogrammed its defenses, prompting the Maximals to retake it. The Maximal's offensive push forced Tarantulas to retreat deeper and deeper into the annexed territory, until he finally returned to his own lair. While he was in control of Rhinox's forces, however, Tarantulas had gained access to sensitive information, prompting the Maximals to follow Tarantulas back to his hide-out, and eliminate him once and for all.

=====Predacon campaign=====
Rhinox's expansion into Tarantulas's territory allowed the Predacons to infiltrate the Maximal's "Urban Area" and eliminate Rhinox. {{storylink|Beast Wars: Transformers (video game)|Beast Wars: Transformers}}

{{Note|Due to the nature of this game, a player may select various individual characters to perform the feats required in every level, and complete the game's narrative. Thus, any playable Maximal can fill the role of protagonist in Maximal Mode, and any playable Predacon can fill the role of protagonist in Predacon Mode. The various feats Tarantulas can accomplish throughout gameplay in Predacon Mode as the story protagonist are described on the [[Beast Wars: Transformers (video game)|''Beast Wars'' video game]] page.}}

===''Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals'' (N64)===
[[File:N64Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|Arboreal Camouflage Tarantulas? Blue Crusader Tarantulas?]]
{{voiceactor|[[Alec Willows]] (English), ??? (Japanese)}}

Tarantulas found a way to escape prehistoric Earth and return to Cybertron. The Beast Wars progressed in his absence for a time...

[[File:N64 Tarantulus.jpg|frame|left|Player 2 Has Entered His Stomach. Continue?]]
Then he came back, newly promoted and with an armada of Transwarp battleships under his command, out to end the Beast Wars and enforce the Tripredacus Council's will... {{storylink|Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals (N64)}}
{{note|Each character possessed an alternate ending, displayed if the game was beaten with said character. Each character has only their own ending listed on their pages, see the other characters' pages for Tarantulas's fate in those outcomes.}}

===''Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals'' (PS)===
{{voiceactor|[[Alec Willows]] (English), ??? (Japanese)}}
{{Storylink|Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals (PS)}}
{{charstubgame}}

===''Duel Fight Transformers Beast Wars''===
[[File:DuelFight Tarantulas.gif|thumb|upright=1.1]]
Megatron was capable of summoning Tarantulas forth to the battlefield during his attempts to acquire the super-powerful [[energon crystal]]. {{storylink|Duel Fight Transformers Beast Wars: Beast Warriors' Strongest Decisive Battle|Duel Fight Transformers Beast Wars}}
{{--}}

===''Transformers: Battle Tactics''===
[[File:BattleTacticsTarantulas.jpg|thumb|400px]]
Tarantulas participated in battles against a variety of opponents, both Autobots and Decepticons. Sometimes there were many of him! He appeared in three different bodies:
*''Tarantulas'' — This Super Rare character first appeared in the "Beast Wars: Episode 2" event, and could be recruited by by collecting 250 units of Cybermetal, 75 units of Transmetal, 35 event cores, and 10 cores of this character.
*''Tarantulas'' — This Epic Character was available in the August Daily Campaign and could be recruited by collecting 20 Alpha cores, 20 Beta cores, 20 Omega cores, and 10 cores of this character.
*''Tarantulas Transmetal'' — This Super Rare character was available to 2500 players during the second event of the "Transmetals: Episode 3" mini events.
{{storylink|Transformers: Battle Tactics}}
{{{!}}border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background:transparent"
{{!}}-
{{!}}style="background:transparent; border-right: 0px" valign="top"{{!}}
[[File:Battle-Tactics-Tarantulas-Timelines.jpg|thumb|400px Watch out!/Here comes the spider bike!]]
{{!}}style="background:transparent; border-right: 0px" valign="top"{{!}}
[[File:Battle-Tactics-Tarantulas-Transmetal.jpg|thumb|400px]]
{{!}}}
{{--}}

==Toys==
===Beast Wars===
[[File:BWtoy-Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|Interested in getting hog-tied with spider-butt rope? Running is the only 'no' available.]]
*'''Tarantulas''' (Deluxe, 1996/1997)
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''D-4'''
**''Accessories'': Launcher, 4 spider-leg missiles

: Part of the first wave of [[Beast Wars: Transformers (toyline)|''Beast Wars'' product]], Tarantulas transforms into an organic generic spider (''not'' a tarantula). His abdomen contains a spring-loaded missile launcher, which fires the anchor-missile kept in his spider-butt. This missile is attached by a string so he can hang from things like a real spider. The launcher can be removed and used as a [[robot mode]] weapon, using any of his front four spider-legs as missiles. Like all early Deluxe-and-up ''Beast Wars'' toys, he has two different robot mode "heads"; a robotic face and a "mutant" face. He is almost always depicted using the mutant face.

: There is a variation of this toy in the [[Hasbro]] line: Later releases (the smooth bubble) lack the yellow paint on his elbows.

: The [[TakaraTomy|Takara]] release of Tarantulas was originally identical to the Hasbro release. Later, a slightly color-altered version was released, using a brighter shade of green and a slightly darker gray. The color-altered version also replaced the blue eyes on the "robot" head and the black eyes of the "mutant" head with gold.

: This mold was used to make the first [[Blackarachnia (BW)/toys#Beast Wars|Blackarachnia toy]].

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1996/Predacon/Tarantulas/tarantulas.htm More information on Tarantulas at TFU.info]''

{{-}}{{anchor|VsDinobot}}
[[File:VS4-DinobotTarantuas.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|The classic battle of dino vs spider. We've all heard the tale.]]
*'''Brutal Showdown: Dinobot VS Tarans''' (VS pack, 1997)
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''VS-4'''
**''Accessories:'' Launcher, 4 spider-leg missiles

: In Japan, "Tarans" was available both as an individual and in a two-pack with "[[Dinobot (BW)|Dinobot]]". Both toys in this set were identical to their individual releases.

: Currently, it is unknown if the latter "more show-like" redeco of Tarantulas was ever released in a VS set.

{{-}}{{anchor|Transmetal}}
[[File:BWtoy-TarantulasTransmetal.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|I'm-a spawn of-a Unicron! I-a slice-a ya pizza!]]
*'''Tarantulas''' (Deluxe Transmetal, 1998)
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''D-44'''
**''Accessories'': Sawblade weapon

: Part of the first assortment of Deluxe [[Transmetal]]s, Tarantulas transforms into a robotic spider. He also has a third "transport" mode, flipping down a wheel from his abdomen and a saw-blade from under his beast-head, making a spidey-cycle. The saw detaches for robot mode to become a hand-held weapon.

: The Japanese version is slightly different, replacing the "TARANTULAS" [[tampograph]] with "DESTRON" and the Predacon sigil, plus his robot mode eyes are painted as a single visor to match the show look better.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1998/Predacon/Tarantulas/tarantulas.htm More information on Transmetal Tarantulas at TFU.info]''

{{-}}{{anchor|FKTransmetal}}
[[File:Tarantulas-FKTM.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|It's like Eight Legged Freaks, but classier, and with a pizza cutter.]]
*'''Tarantulas''' (Deluxe "Fox Kids" Transmetal, 1999)
**''Accessories'': Sawblade weapon

: A [[redeco]] of the Transmetal Tarantulas toy in grays, silver, and black. He and a Transmetal [[Cheetor (BW)/toys#TMFK|Cheetor]] redeco were part of the "[[Fox Kids]]" toys, so called for the advertisements for the Fox channel on the packaging (as the [[Beast Wars: Transformers (cartoon)|''Beast Wars'' cartoon]] had moved there from syndication). Internal Hasbro documents have listed this toy as "Steel Force Tarantulas",<ref>https://groups.google.com/d/msg/alt.toys.transformers/C30fV9dqOK0/gPO8D3N_PAUJ</ref> a name that did not make it to final packaging.

: These colors were used to depict Tarantulas in the ''[[Primeval Dawn]]'' and [[Transformers: Universe (comic)|''Universe'' comics]]. This toy was also later [[repurposing|repurposed]] as Tarantulas's [[Tarantulas (BWSG)|''Shattered Glass'' counterpart]]. With the toy's limited availability, secondary-market pricing for this item due to its fictional use has gone up.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1999/Predacon/FKTMTarantulas/tarantulas.htm More information on Fox Kids Tarantulas at TFU.info]''

{{-}}

===MicroVerse===
[[File:Tarantulas-Microverse.jpg|100px|thumb|I'm not [[Fantastic Four|The]] [[Thing]], I swear!]]
*'''Orcanoch''' ([[MicroVerse]], 1997)

: A small, non-transforming micro-figure of Tarantulas came with the [[MicroVerse]] [[Orcanoch]] playset. It was presumably painted based on the original design, as its upper body is copper rather than purple. Its only articulation is at the waist, letting it sit in any of the MicroVerse mini-vehicles or playset stations.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1997/Maximal/Orcanoch/orcanoch.htm More information on MicroVerse Tarantulas (via Orchanoch) at TFU.info]

{{-}}

===Beast Wars 10th Anniversary===
[[File:BWXtoy-Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|He's not here to help assemble Transmutate. That leg's his dinner.]]
*'''Predacon Tarantulus''' (Deluxe, 2006)
**''Accessories:'' Launcher, 4 spider-leg missiles

:This toy is a slight [[redeco]] of the original Tarantulas toy, more closely resembling Tarantulas's appearance in the cartoon (save the big Predacon faction sigil tampograph). Part of the second wave of [[Transformers: Beast Wars 10th Anniversary|''Beast Wars'' 10th Anniversary product]], he came with a DVD of the episode "[[Spider's Game]]," plus the left leg to [[Transmutate (character)|Trans-Mutate]].

:This release of Tarantulus has [[Misassembly|misassembled]] forearm/claws, which can be easily swapped to the correct position due to the [[ball joint]]ed elbows.
::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2006/Predacon/PredaconTarantulas/predacontarantulas.htm More information on 10th Anniversary Tarantulas at TFU.info]''

{{--}}

{{anchor|TimelinesToy}}
===Timelines===
[[File:Timelinestoy-TarantulasDOFP.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Everyone's second-favorite purple-and-yellow motorcycle two-Mini-Con-having servant of Unicron.]]
*'''Tarantulas''' (2015)
:Tarantulas is a redeco of ''[[Transformers United|United]]'' [[Scrapheap (G1)#United|Scrapheap]], itself a retool of ''[[Transformers (2010 toyline)|Transformers]]'' [[Wreck-Gar (G1)#Transformers (2010)|Wreck-Gar]] with a new head. He turns into a motorcycle. The toy is meant to represent his pre-''Beast Wars'' appearance. The toy also comes with two [[Arachnoid]]s that can be pegged into his left and right arms.

[[File:Timelinestoy-TarantulasDOFPslideshow.jpg|left|thumb|150px]]
:When first revealed at [[BotCon 2014]], the toy's color was different from the final release's appearance. The toy was lighter colored (including the Arachnoids!), his mouthplate was green, and his arms were entirely colored green, among many other differences.
{{2010Wreck-GarMold}}

{{-}}

===Combiner Wars===
{{anchor|DawnOfThePredacus}}
[[File:Timelines botcon tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|*Insert Spider-tank related caption here*]]
*'''Dawn of the Predacus''' ([[BotCon 2016]] box set)
**''Accessories'': Claw weapon, Combiner Foot/Hand

:A [[retool]] of ''[[Combiner Wars (toyline)|Combiner Wars]]'' [[Rook (Generations)#Generations|Rook]], "Predacon Tarantulas" features a new spider-esque head. As a ''Combiner Wars'' Deluxe limb he is able to combine with any Voyager Class toys released as part of the same subline but is, of course, intended to be combined with Sea Clamp, Cicadacon, Ramhorn, and Ravage to create [[Predacus]].

:Rather than 5mm hands, Tarantulas has forward-facing 5mm ports in front of his fists. This allows him to mount his claw-like accessory as an integrated weapon or use ''Combiner Wars'' combiner hands (one of which is included) as giant "Hulk hands".

:He was available exclusively at [[BotCon 2016]] in the "Dawn of the Predacus" box set with [[Ravage (G1)/toys#BotCon2016|Ravage]], [[Ram Horn#Combiner Wars|General Ramhorn]], [[Cicadacon#Combiner Wars|General Cicadacon]], and [[Sea Clamp#Combiner Wars|General Sea Clamp]].
{{CWRookMold}}
{{--}}

==Merchandise==
[[File:Tarantulasmutatingcard.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67]]
*'''Beast Wars Transformers Mutating Card Game''' (1997)
:Tarantulas was one of the 24 beast warriors to receive a battle card representation for the Beast Wars [[Beast Wars Transformers Mutating Card Game|card game]].
{{-}}
===Robot Heroes===
[[File:Robotheroestarantulasprimal.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|Don't take your eyes off your mech fluid, Primal.]]
*'''Optimus Primal vs Predacon Tarantulas''' (2008)

: Part of the second wave of ''[[Transformers: Universe (2008 toyline)|Universe]]'' ''[[Robot Heroes (toyline)|Robot Heroes]]'', this PVC figurine of Tarantulas' original body has articulation in the shoulders and neck. He was available only in a "Beast Wars Series" two-pack with [[Optimus Primal/toys|Optimus Primal]] (amusingly enough, the [[Maximal]] he also came with in the ''[[MicroVerse]]'' [[Orcanoch]] playset).

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2008/Predacon/RHTarantulas/tarantulas.htm More information on Robot Heroes Tarantulas at TFU.info]''

{{--}}

==Notes==
[[File:BWcommercial-Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|Not terribly appealing.]]
*Tarantulas is referred to as simply "Tarantula" in the [[commercial]] advertising his toy. This commercial and also early promotional pictures showed the original Tarantulas toy as being transparent orange, but the final toy was a clear deep purple instead. Presumably, this was for a little visual variety in the early line, which already had a largely tan toy ([[Dinobot (BW)|Dinobot]]) and a largely yellow toy ([[Cheetor (BW)/toys|Cheetor]]) in the Deluxe range, plus a Mega-sized Predacon arachnid then planned to be orange ([[Scorponok (BW)|Scorponok]]), and [[Tigatron]], who was at one point slated to be a traditional orange tiger.
[[File:TarantulasArm.jpg|upright=0.85|thumb|He tastes everything he holds.]]
*In the original control art for Tarantulas, the claws are shown in the same configuration as used in the show. In other words, the claws were somehow swapped during the assembly process and have remained as such on every version of the mold thereafter.
*The original Tarantulas toy has ''nine'' eyes in [[beast mode]], as does the show model. This makes characters' references to him as "eight-eyes" rather... interesting.
*Tarantulas's toy bios paint him as a really dumb ninja-like stealth assassin. Both of his [[Tech Spec]]s give him an intelligence of 4, even the numbers that accompany his ''Transmetals'' bio which mentions the cartoon's [[quantum surge]].
*In the first season, Tarantulas is characterized more as a cannibalistic, psychotic gourmand who happens to be the Predacons' Science Officer than as the mad scientist and master plotter he becomes from "[[Spider's Game]]" onwards. This is to the extent that his official season one profile makes several mentions of his eating habits, describes his sole interest as being "food", and summarizes his relationship with the other Predacons as simple disdain, as he considers them to all be potential meals.
*In the Japanese dub of ''Beast Wars'', Tarantulas retained his trademark cackle, but it was a little ''different''. His voice was very high-pitched and he shrieked almost constantly. His trademark laugh more closely resembled a wicked witch of sorts.
[[File:OptimalSituation Tarantulas insignia.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Tarantulas is one of Reprolabels's best customers.]]
*From "[[Optimal Situation]]" onwards, the [[Arachnoid]]s sport a Tarantulas-themed insignia.
[[File:TMtigatronboxback2.jpg|thumb|Pew! Pew!]]
*Tarantulas's origins are a bit complicated. He declares in "[[Other Victories]]" that he and the [[Tripredacus Council]] have origins other than Autobot and Decepticon, such that they would not be affected by the destruction of the Ark. Megatron's line about "Unicron's spawn" was apparently not intended by [[Bob Forward]] to be taken literally but as a generic Transformer insult; [[Larry DiTillio]] has said Bob "regrets" the line and they never had ''any'' fixed idea of Tarantulas' origin. Larry also said that had the show continued, the characters "might" be descended from the [[Cybertronian (faction)|Cybertronians]].<ref>[http://groups.google.com/group/alt.toys.transformers/msg/f06828ec523295c1?dmode=source&output=gplain Larry DiTillio's take on Tarantulas origins! at alt.toys.transformers]</ref> A Unicronian origin also creates potential canonical issues, as Tarantulas says that "under our rule, Cybertron will conquer the universe" ("[[Other Victories]]"), whereas Unicron's goal would have been to eat Cybertron. But, much like [[Terrorsaur (BW)|Terrorsaur]]'s line about "[[Darksyde (BW)|the dark side]]", this line developed a life of its own. Eventually this connection was reasserted in [[3H Productions]]' ''[[Primeval Dawn]]'' storyline, initially written by... Bob Forward. On the other hand, [[Fun Publications]]' "[[A Common Foe]]" depicted a [[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]]/Cybertronian origin for Tarantulas and the Tripredacus Council but left the specifics a mystery.
*Tarantulas's body in "[[Theft of the Golden Disk]]" is based on [[Ransack (Cybertron)|''Cybertron'' Ransack]]. His body in "[[Dawn of Future's Past]]", however, is a unique design not directly based on an existing toy, unlike the rest of the show characters in the story.
*Tarantulas is probably the only [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] [[Minion of Unicron]] who avoided being labeled a [[Decepticon]].
*From what can be observed from art on the back of Transmetal Tigatron's packaging, Tarantulas's vok-enhanced abilities include levitating and firing energy beams from his eye(s?) in [[robot mode]]. Neat!

===Foreign names===
*''Japanese:'' '''Tarans''' (タランス ''Taransu''), '''Tarantulas''' (タランチュラス ''Taranchurasu'')
*''Italian:'' '''Metal Tarantulas''' (Transmetal toy)
*''Korean:'' '''Tarantulas''' (타란튤라스 ''Talantyullaseu'')
*''Mandarin:'' '''Chīh-chū''' (Taiwan, 蜘蛛, "Spider"), '''Hóng Chīh-chū''' (Taiwan second and third season, 紅蜘蛛, "Red Spider"), '''Láng Zhū''' (China, 狼蛛, "Tarantula")
*''Polish:'' '''Tarantulator'''
*''Portuguese:'' '''Tarântulos''' (Brazil)

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Beast Wars Predacons]]
[[Category:Beast Wars 10th Anniversary]]
[[Category:Beast Wars: Uprising Predacons]]
[[Category:Cloud Predacons]]
[[Category:Combiner Wars]]
[[Category:Combiners]]
[[Category:Double agents]]
[[Category:Generation 1 Decepticons]]
[[Category:IDW Generation 1 Transformers]]
[[Category:Law enforcement]]
[[Category:Legends Predacons]]
[[Category:Minions of Unicron]]
[[Category:Ninjas]]
[[Category:Robot Heroes]]
[[Category:Scientists]]
[[Category:Timelines characters]]
[[Category:Toys "R" Us exclusives]]
[[Category:Transformers with three modes]]
[[Category:Transmetals]]
[[Category:Unicron-related characters]]
[[Category:Universe Predacons]]
[[Category:Universe (2008)]]
[[Category:Wings Universe Predacons]]

Tarantulas (BW)

2017-04-26T00:24:00Z

7Crimsonified7: /* Wings Universe */

{{factions|predacon|unicron|decepticon}}
{{disambig3|Tarantulas}}
{{featured}}
:''Tarantulas is a [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] from the [[Beast Wars: Transformers (franchise)|Beast Wars]] portion of the [[Generation 1 continuity family|Generation 1]] [[continuity family]].''

[[File:Tarantulasbw.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|[[BotCon 2000|"And fries! Lots of FRIES!"]]]]
'''Tarantulas''' is the scheming mad scientist of the Predacon crew. He's the type of mad scientist who experiments on living beings, cackling in his [[trademark]]ed laugh all the while, and then if things go wrong, happily eats what's left as his midday snack. The eating is what he was really looking forward to, anyway. It's this focused perversity that turns off even his fellow Predacons. Tarantulas's emotional detachment from their war also rubs his peers the wrong way. Fighting Maximals and following orders is just a required chore; his real passion is the unmentionable projects stashed in [[Tarantulas's lair|his "secret" lair]].

Nominally, Tarantulas was one of the Predacons to join [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] during his theft of the [[Golden Disk (Voyager)|Golden Disk]] and the search for [[Earth]]. In addition to being an utterly psychotic, sadistic sociopath, he has a record for treachery rivaled by few other Transformers. He is actually an [[Predacon Secret Police|agent]] of the [[Tripredacus Council]], which is trying to coax the Beast Wars toward an unspecified goal, where neither Autobot or Decepticon won the [[Great War (G1)|Great War]]. Who knows what other [[Unicron|dark secrets]] lie in his past.

If anything upsets Tarantulas, other than losing a potential meal, it's those pompous aliens who call themselves the [[Vok]]. He harbors a hatred for them strong enough to make him work to eliminate them by any means.

In some universes he can combine with the Tripredacus Council and [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] to form [[Predacus]].

Sometimes he is previously known as '''Mesothulas''' and sometimes his name is spelled as '''Tarantulus'''.

{{bigquote|You're ''insane.''|[[Tigerhawk]]}}
{{bigquote|So they ''saa''-aay! Wbrrwbrrbbppth!|Tarantulas|"[[Other Victories]]"}}

==Fiction==
===Toy bios===
[[File:PrimalVSMegs-Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Why Megatron, I do believe you're trying to seduce m— oh, hey, [[Razorbeast]].]]
Tarantulas was a sneaky, mysterious ninja feared across the galaxy. A master of the martial arts, he was suspected in the disappearances of many [[Human|Earthlings]], and rumors swirled of giant cocoons where he stored his prey. {{storylink|#Toys|Tarantulas bio}}

Tarantulas was guarding the Predacons' jungle-based genetics lab along with Megatron and Waspinator. When the Maximals discovered them, he engaged [[Razorbeast]] in combat briefly before Megatron called retreat and destroyed the lab. {{storylink|Optimus Primal vs Megatron!}}

After the [[quantum surge]], Tarantulas became a [[Transmetal]], with the accompanying vehicle mode to match. With his new set of wheels, Tarantulas didn't have to rely on stealth and deceit as much, instead speeding head-first into battle and using his new mechanical beast mode to overpower his enemies. {{storylink|#Transmetal|Transmetal Tarantulas bio}}
{{-}}

===Cartoon continuity===
====''Beast Wars'' cartoon====
{{voiceactor|[[Alec Willows]] (English), [[Scott McNeil]] (English, portions of "[[Other Voices, Part 2]]" only), [[Yūichi Nagashima]] (Japanese)|[[Alexandr Novikov]] (Russian, 1st dub), [[Hervé Joly]] (French), [[Lutz Harder]] (German), [[Riccardo Peroni]] (Italian), [[Junseok Song]] (Korean), [[Humberto Vélez]] (Latin American Spanish), [[Fábio Vilalonga]] (Portuguese)}}

Lieutenant Tarantulas of the [[Predacon Secret Police]] was one of [[Megatron (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Megatron]]'s original crew, a mole inside his organization feeding information back to the [[Tripredacus Council]] without his knowledge. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part 2)}} More than that, he was a ''direct'' agent of the Council and shared their origins, with an overall agenda to alter the timeline by going back to prehistoric Earth and completely destroying the [[Ark (G1)|''Ark'' and the Transformers within]]. {{storylink|Other Victories}} The plan went tits up though, as Megatron's ''Darksyde'' warship ended up crashing on an unidentified planet and contact with Cybertron was lost.{{storylink|Beast Wars (Part 1)}} Tarantulas carried on as normal despite this setback. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part 2)}}

[[File:TheWeb Tarantulas beast mode.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|Not arachnophobic, eh? I can fix that.]]
As Megatron's technical leader, he manned the scanners to appropriate beast forms based on the most powerful local creatures, choosing the form of an over-sized spider for himself. He cheerfully took part in the first battle of the [[Beast Wars (event)|Beast Wars]], only to succumb to energon buildup while the Maximals were escaping. {{storylink|Beast Wars (Part 1)}} The Predacons uncovered a stash of energon crystals atop a mountain, but were forced to fight in their [[beast mode]]s. Tarantulas and [[Rattrap (BW)|Rattrap]] fought in this manner until Megatron triggered a chain reaction which caused the energon to explode. {{storylink|Beast Wars (Part 2)}}

[[File:ChainofCommand Tarantulas firing.jpg|thumb|upright=1.34|Sure, he's fast on the draw, but he ALWAYS shoots himself in the foot.]]
It wasn't long before Tarantulas had set up his own [[Tarantulas's lair|underground lair]] to keep his experiments away from Megatron's prying eyes. After helping [[Scorponok (BW)|Scorponok]] recover a mega-cannon, Tarantulas managed to capture [[Cheetor (BW)|Cheetor]], trapping the young Maximal in a web in his lair with the intent of feeding later. Rattrap mounted a rescue, during which the cavern caved in on Tarantulas {{storylink|The Web}} Tarantulas was blasted by Rattrap during the battle at the [[Standing Stones]], and later accompanied Megatron and [[Terrorsaur (BW)|Terrorsaur]] to attack the ''Axalon'' after it appeared that [[Optimus Primal/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Optimus Primal]] had perished. After the Maximals got the ship's shields back up, he suggested to Megatron that they return to the Standing Stones. Unfortunately once there, the Maximals managed to retrieve Primal from the [[Vok probe|alien probe]] at the site, and Tarantulas was one of the first victims of the restored Maximal commander. {{storylink|Chain of Command (BW)|Chain of Command}}

Terrorsaur, his power boosted, defeated Megatron in combat before leaving Tarantulas in charge of the other Predacons. Tarantulas promptly tailed Terrorsaur to find out what his new power source was, and discovered it was a [[flying mountain]] topped with a cache of super energon. Before he could do anything with the knowledge, he encountered Rattrap, who'd come to destroy the mountain. Their fight ended with Tarantulas falling from the side of the mountain. {{storylink|Power Surge (episode)|Power Surge}} He subsequently took part in an attack on the Maximal base after a [[stasis pod]] crashed. While Megatron kept [[Dinobot (BW)|Dinobot]] distracted, Tarantulas and Scorponok ambushed the Maximal from behind. Unfortunately for them, Dinobot had time to activate the base defenses, and Tarantulas was blasted into the distance by the auto-guns. {{storylink|Fallen Comrades}}

When the Predacons finally captured a stasis pod, Tarantulas made sure that the [[protoform]] was given a spider beast mode, creating [[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]]. Megatron suspected he had ulterior motives, but was nonetheless pleased by the new soldier. Tarantulas seemed happy to follow Terrorsaur when the Predacon mounted another takeover attempt with the aid of Rattrap, but spent most of his time skulking around the ''Darksyde'' in search of rats to eat. He spotted Rattrap sneaking around, but the Maximal blasted him before he could do anything. He subsequently limped back to the others to find that Megatron had reasserted his leadership. {{storylink|Double Jeopardy}} After one of Scorponok's viruses turned Primal into a berserker, the Maximal leader broke into the Predacon base and, completely ignoring Tarantulas's attempts to stop him, pinned the spider to a wall using Tarantulas's own weapon. {{storylink|Gorilla Warfare}}

[[File:Tflocklens&tarantulas.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1|"Behold my latest invention... THE DISCO BALL VERSION 2.0!"]]
One of Tarantulas's many inventions, the [[transformation lock lens]], was instrumental in preventing the Maximals from contacting a [[temporal probe]] doing a flyby of the planet. He used it to ensnare [[Tigatron]] and Cheetor, then wreaked havoc with the Maximals' attempts to build a communications array, before he was finally defeated by Primal. Although his new toy was destroyed by the recovered Cheetor and Tigatron, the damage was already done, and the probe flew by uncontacted. {{storylink|The Probe}} After the Predacons discovered a Maximal spy camera in their base, they faked a mutiny and hid in a crevice. Tarantulas spent his nights being hugged like a stuffed toy by [[Waspinator (BW)|Waspinator]], and his days eating stray rats. While the Maximals repaired the ''Axalon'', the Predacons were discovered by Dinobot, and gave chase. Though they attacked the Maximal ship in an attempt to capture it, the affair ended with the ''Axalon'' crashing back to the ground. {{storylink|Victory (episode)|Victory}} After a Maximal victory, largely due to the efforts of Rhinox, Tarantulas captured the rhino in a web on Megatron's orders, so that he could be converted into a Predacon by the [[Transmuter (BW)|Transmuter]]. In return, the new Predacon poisoned him and Blackarachnia. {{storylink|Dark Designs}}

[[File:Spider'sGame Taratulas hauling stasis pod.jpg|thumb|upright=1.45|Ever the engineer, Tarantulas invents the low-tech equivalent of a tow truck.]]
Tarantulas detected another stasis pod landing in [[Grid Scavos]], but Megatron refused to let him go and assist in the recovery, much to his disgust. {{storylink|The Spark}} The next time a stasis pod crashed, Tarantulas was more prepared. From his lair, he used a [[magna pulse]] to disable both the ''Darksyde'' and ''Axalon'' to allow him to investigate without interference. Unfortunately for him, Blackarachnia had found his lair, and insisted on coming along to help. At the pod, Tarantulas reprogrammed the new arrival into a Predacon, but was disappointed that a beast mode had already been chosen, and [[Inferno (BW)|Inferno]] would not be another spider. In the confusion that followed, he made off with the real prize — the stasis pod itself. Unfortunately for him, Tigatron destroyed the pod before he could get very far, and he was forced to retreat when Megatron arrived. Later, in his lair, he inadvertently told Blackarachnia that the planet was doomed, and she realized he was intending to build an escape ship, however he threw her out before she could work out any more of his plans. {{storylink|Spider's Game}}

Tarantulas took part in a diversionary attack while Waspinator and Terrorsaur stole the Maximals' [[rectifier coil]]. After the Maximals went feral, the Predacons mounted a hunting expedition, though Tarantulas was stuck supporting the back end of Megatron's chair. {{storylink|Call of the Wild}} On another occasion, Tarantulas detected what appeared to be walking energon. Megatron realized that an earlier battle had left four of the Maximals contaminated and blinded, and ordered Tarantulas to send Terrorsaur to investigate. {{storylink|Dark Voyage}} After Waspinator was possessed by the ghost of [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]], Tarantulas took part in the attack on the ''Axalon'', and pointed out once they'd conquered it that their own base was now undefended. Megatron's answer was to leave Starscream in charge of the ''Axalon'', a decision which would come back to bite him later. {{storylink|Possession}}

[[File:Dinobottarantulasrattrapthelowroad.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.34|"See? I told you I was taller than Tarantulas."]]
During an attack on the Maximal base, Tarantulas was able to infect Rhinox with an [[energon discharge virus]], though he himself was injured by Dinobot during the retreat. He was tracked by Dinobot and Rattrap, but eventually turned the tables by getting the drop on them, only to be flattened by a huge boulder. After recovering, he took advantage of their incessant arguing by trying to get the drop on them again, only to be knocked unconscious by a double punch. Finally, Dinobot attempted to use Tarantulas's body as a hostage, only for Megatron to blast it aside. Perhaps his only consolation was that he avoided the indignity of the fate that befell the rest of the Predacons. {{storylink|The Low Road}}

With the return of the [[Vok|aliens]] a certainty, Tarantulas stole a [[transwarp cell]] from the ''Darksyde'', slagging Waspinator in the process. Megatron detected the theft and used Blackarachnia as a distraction while he remotely inserted his own programming into the cell. The two spiders later took part in an attempt to prevent Tigatron from escaping the Predacon base, and were squished by a boulder Dinobot had set up. They were relatively uninjured and able to haul their damaged comrades back to the ship. {{storylink|Before the Storm}} The two spiders teamed up again, infiltrating the Maximal base and disabling Rhinox and Dinobot while the other Maximals were busy with the latest alien construct to appear. They became aware that the planet's second moon had just been revealed as an artificial, alien ''doomsday weapon'' in disguise, with Tarantulas remarking it was "the beginning of the end" for the planet. {{storylink|Other Voices, Part 1}} In the cargo hold, Tarantulas used the transwarp cell and a stasis pod to construct a ship, but was interrupted by Inferno, who torched the spider. Fortunately, Blackarachnia entered Tarantulas's mind to obtain the information to complete the escape ship, and he was able to set up a permanent neural link between the two Predacons. {{storylink|Other Voices, Part 2}}

[[File:ComingFuzors1 Tarantulas lives.jpg|thumb|upright=1.55|A new look, and he didn't even have to [[Spider-Man|sell out]] to [[Iron Man|Tony Stark]] for it!]]
When the [[quantum surge]] caused by the "second moon's" destruction knocked out all of the Transformers on the planet, Tarantulas's body was upgraded to a [[Transmetal]] form, and he forced Blackarachnia to drag it from the Maximal base, even getting her to ignore Megatron's command to stay and fight the Maximals. {{storylink|Aftermath}} With Blackarachnia's hard work and some serious-looking electrical arc generators, Tarantulas was restored to life. Megatron soon called him to the battlefield, so he left Blackarachnia to root around in their leader's computer files: by this point, the loss of the "moon" and the damages to the planet had revealed it to be ''prehistoric Earth'' all along... {{storylink|Coming of the Fuzors (Part 1)}}

Using his new cycle mode, Tarantulas quickly reached the Maximals' position. During the fight, he kept in contact with her, until a shot by Dinobot put him temporarily out of commission. After he came around, Blackarachnia reported that she'd failed to get the data he needed. The Predacons were soon routed by the resurrection of Optimus Primal, and forced to return to base. There, Megatron and Tarantulas questioned Blackarachnia, only to be told the vital data had been lost. Neither of them believed her, but didn't call her out. {{storylink|Coming of the Fuzors (Part 2)}}

With his old lair destroyed by the Planet Buster, Tarantulas was fortuitous in that Megatron assigned him with Blackarachnia and [[Quickstrike (BW)|Quickstrike]] to check out a cave filled with energon. He quickly surmised that it would make an excellent new lair, and attempted to get his two comrades interested in going it alone. Blackarachnia was more interested in getting rid of the neural link the two of them shared, and cracked an energon crystal, sending feedback through the link, to force him to sever it. By a fortunate coincidence, the three Predacons were soon attacked by [[Silverbolt (BW)|Silverbolt]] and Rattrap, and during the battle Tarantulas was able to convincingly fake the destruction of the cave, allowing him to utilize it as his own lair. {{storylink|Tangled Web}} When Dinobot defected to the Predacon side, Tarantulas offered to verify his programming, but Megatron decided it wouldn't be a very good idea to let Tarantulas into Dinobot's processor. {{storylink|Maximal, No More}}

[[File:OtherVisits1 Tarantulas beast mode.jpg|left|upright=1.2|thumb|Downside: everything tastes like feet now.]]
Back in his lair, Tarantulas's instruments detected the aliens again, and he rushed off to the site. He arrived shortly after Tigatron and [[Airazor (BW)|Airazor]] had been abducted, and zapped Cheetor, but was forced to retreat when more Maximals arrived. He visited Megatron, claiming to no longer be under the tyrant's command, but willing to help. The Predacons returned to the alien site to set up equipment, during which Blackarachnia revealed that she had learned through the broken neural link that Tarantulas hated the aliens. {{storylink|Other Visits (Part 1)}} Megatron, Quickstrike, and Tarantulas recovered quickly from the energy wave put out by the new [[Metal Hunter|alien construct]], and after Tarantulas's [[refractive web]] was activated, the trio ventured inside. Once Megatron had control of the construct, he terminated his alliance with Tarantulas, dropping the Predacon from a great height. Infuriated, Tarantulas helped the Maximals attack the construct, infiltrating it along with Rattrap, and sabotaging the transwarp cells which Megatron installed, causing the ship to explode. {{storylink|Other Visits (Part 2)}}

Though a bug planted on Megatron's chair, Tarantulas learned that Blackarachnia had been sent to recover a new protoform, and took the opportunity to threaten her to try and extract the information he suspected she'd gained from Megatron's computers. Unfortunately for him, Silverbolt stepped in and defended Blackarachnia, shortly before an energon explosion separated everyone. Though Tarantulas found the stasis pod, [[Rampage (BW)|its contents]] found him, and his body parts were spread liberally over a wide area. {{storylink|Bad Spark}} Dinobot later tracked down Tarantulas in an attempt to find out what Megatron's latest scheme was. Though Tarantulas didn't know, Dinobot forced him to act as transport, and they soon found Megatron preparing to torch a valley fill of [[Protohuman]]s. Tarantulas took advantage of Dinobot's distraction to shoot the Maximal, only for Dinobot to drop a boulder on him. {{storylink|Code of Hero}}

[[File:Agenda3 Tarantulas button push.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Tarantulas presses the History Eraser Button.]]
Alerted by the [[transwarp wavefront]], the Tripredacus Council sent covert agent [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] to capture Megatron. The former Decepticon led the Maximals to apprehend Megatron, and Tarantulas assisted by taking down the ''Darksyde''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> defense system. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part 1)}} Megatron, much to his indignation, was later informed by Ravage that the spider was a lieutenant in the Predacon Secret Police; Tarantulas joined in the diss by laughing over a comm-screen at his former boss. Tarantulas was able to instruct the Maximals in the location of a stash of energon crystals that Megatron had hidden. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part 2)}} When Ravage was persuaded to change sides by the Predacon leader, Tarantulas appeared to come too, manning the [[transwarp cruiser]]'s weapons systems for an attack on the ''Axalon''. Alas, Rattrap chewed his way into the ship and tossed a couple of [[Fusion weaponry#Fusion grenade|bomb]]s at Tarantulas, which stuck to his hands before exploding. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part III)}}

Tarantulas survived, though, and was quickly put back together by his [[arachnoid]]s. He was repaired in time to witness the destruction of the ''Axalon''. {{storylink|Optimal Situation}} He was soon seen back at the Predacon base, working under Megatron's command once again with no mention of his former secession. {{storylink|Cutting Edge}} However, around this time he was also working on another scheme: restoring the ''[[Nemesis (G1)|Nemesis]]'', the flagship of the [[Decepticon]] fleet! At some point, he'd found it lying at the bottom of the ocean, and was ensuring it would not only fly again but had a Predacon control console and a transwarp cell that could take it back to Cybertron... {{storylink|Nemesis Part 1}}

He battled the Maximals alongside Megatron's [[cyber raptor]]s, taking the opportunity to try out his new Transmetal [[cyber venom]] to great success, though he was stomped on by a cyber raptor once the Maximals worked out how to destroy their controls. {{storylink|Cutting Edge}} He assisted in the construction of Megatron's [[disruptor cannon]], suggesting that they abduct an early human to complete the device when the other Predacons were unable to get too close to it due to the unstable power source. While the cannon was completed by [[Una]], she managed to use her knowledge of levers to tip a piece of heavy equipment on him. Though he survived that, Una had taken the cannon's stablizer crystal, and it exploded in the Predacons' faces when they tried to use it. {{storylink|Go with the Flow}}

[[File:CrossingRubicon Tarantulas fires on Silverbolt.jpg|thumb|left|260px]]
When the Maximals attempted to remove Blackarachnia's shell program, he revealed to Megatron that he had included "certain safeguards" that guaranteed she would not survive, and joined the other Predacons in an attack on the Maximals that was meant to disrupt the attempted shell removal. He fired the missile which knocked the Maximals' power off-line at a crucial instant, seemingly bringing an end to his "treacherous creation". Enraged by the death of his beloved, [[Silverbolt (BW)|Silverbolt]] attempted to kill the scientist, but was thwarted by [[Rampage (BW)|Rampage]], who was later defeated by a revived—and [[Transmetal]]ized—Blackarachnia. {{storylink|Crossing the Rubicon}}

Tarantulas participated in the Predacons' next attempt to retake the [[Ark (G1)|Ark]], utilising his latest invention to allow Quickstrike to take control of Optimus Primal... and ''that'' was when he made his move, at last. He manipulated [[Quickstrike (BW)|Quickstrike]] into throwing Megatron into the nearby lava while he himself set the Ark's engines to overload. Megatron survived his lava-dunking, gaining a new body in the process. However, he had lost his patience. While he'd tolerated Tarantulas's treachery, he could not tolerate incompetence. Tarantulas survived his punishment and fled back to his lair. {{storylink|Master Blaster}} This appears to have ''not'' been what Quickstrike thought he was going to do, and neither he nor Megatron had any idea why he'd planned to destroy the whole Ark.

[[File:TarantulasVok SignOfTheCross.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|"Save me, X-Men!"]]
Tarantulas was left ranting in his lair about how the Tripredacus Council's plans were wrecked, while his systems monitored the ''Nemesis'' (which was finished by this point). However, his rant and Nemesis plans were interrupted when the aliens—now revealed to be called the [[Vok]]—sent their emissary [[Tigerhawk]] arrived on Earth. Tarantulas let him take out the Predacons, then used his arachnoids to disable and capture him. Tarantulas intended to force the all-powerful being into his servitude by drawing the Vok influences out of his body and reprogramming him, and then have him obliterate the Ark: he cheerfully told the emissary that as he nor the Council had Autobot or Decepticon origins, they'd survive the resulting timestorm, turn Cybertron into a universe-conquering force, and one day even conquer the Vok themselves!

The scheme backfired, however, as his energy beam device expelled two ''actual Vok'' out of Tigerhawk. The formless spectres attempted to take over Tarantulas' body. Panicking, he made a religious sign to ward them off and then opened fire on them—a futile gesture that merely served to spin the energy device around 'til its rays were blasting him and his lab equipment. Overloaded by the beams, Tarantulas exploded, leaving nothing behind but his boots. The remainder of his equipment detonated seconds later, blowing the lair to rubble. Cheetor managed to rescue the inert Tigerhawk, and Tarantulas was presumed destroyed. {{storylink|Other Victories}}

Megatron knew that Tarantulas must have had some schemes on the go that the Predacons could pick up and use, and had his men search the ruins of the spider's lair. During this, he offhandedly referred to him as "[[Unicron's Spawn]]". He ended up discovering and using the working ''Nemesis''. {{storylink|Nemesis Part 1}}
{{-}}

====Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity====
=====Yokohama Decepticon Secret Base=====
[[File:Yokohama Unicron Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|100px]]
As part of a plot to destroy the [[2014]] [[Transformers Expo]] in [[Yokohama]] and the Cybertronian artifacts within, Taratulas, working on [[Unicron]]'s behalf, secretly granted [[Predacon computer|NAVI-ko]] a new body and intelligence regarding [[Yokohama Convoy|Nemesis Prime]]. True to plan, NAVI-ko was sent to activate the clone and guide him to the Transformers Expo. However, thanks to Nemesis Prime's inherent sense of justice, the plan failed. {{storylink|Yokohama Decepticon Secret Base}}

=====''Cloud''=====
{{charstubfiction|{{storylink|Wild (Cloud)|Wild}} {{storylink|TFC-A03}}}}

=====''Beast Wars Diorama Story''=====
[[File:BWDiorama Motorarm Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|left|A ravenous, sinister fiend... and Tarantulas.]]
Sometime after Starscream's arrival to prehistoric Earth, Tarantulas was confronted in battle by a time-displaced [[Motorarm (BWII)|Motorarm]], who fended off the Predacon with his Beetle Claw attack. Tarantulas was not present when the Autobots from [[Movie (franchise)|another universe]] and Maximals combined all of their energies to attack a team of Predacons and Decepticons. {{storylink|Motorarm Chapter}}
{{-}}

====3H comics====
Tarantulas was the inventor of the [[mind-drill]]. [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] "borrowed" it from him to get information out of [[Antagony (BW)|Antagony]]. {{storylink|Herald, Covenant, Schism, Paradox|Herald}}

[[File:Primevaldawn2 tarantulas matrix.jpg|thumb|Further proving the maxim: "If you want to steal the Matrix, you basically can."]]
Following the Beast Wars, Tarantulas's body returned to life, reanimated by the Vok powers he'd previously absorbed. The undead Tarantulas, along with a rebuilt Ravage (as [[Ravage (G1)|Tripredacus Agent]]), nurtured new troops to life through enigmatic means, growing [[Razorclaw (BW)|Razorclaw]] and [[Iguanus (BW)|Iguanus]] in tubes. {{storylink|Primeval Dawn Part 1}} {{storylink|Primeval Dawn II}}

The remaining Vok anticipated Tarantulas's plan to destroy the rest of them, take their power, and fashion the timestream to his desires, and so they assembled an army of their own consisting of [[Primal Prime]], [[Airazor (BW)|Airazor]], and [[Tigatron]]. Tarantulas met this opposition in battle, overwhelmed them, and triumphantly ripped the [[Matrix of Leadership]] from Primal Prime's chest. {{storylink|Primeval Dawn Part 2}}

Wounded critically, the Maximals withdrew to the Ark, while Tarantulas and his Predacons returned to his lair, where he directed them in the construction of a transwarp portal. Upon completion, Tarantulas planned to bring his stolen prize to his master, Unicron. Since his troops were getting restless, he promised them they could assault the Ark once they finished construction. Tarantulas was true to his word, and as Ravage led the Predacons against the Maximals, Unicron's spawn tried to stabilize the portal and prepared the Matrix for transport. {{storylink|Primeval Dawn Part 3}}

{{note|[[3H Productions]] dissolved before this storyline could be completed. Based on the subsequent ''Wreckers'' and ''[[Transformers: Universe (comic)|Universe]]'' storylines, it can be assumed that the Matrix of Leadership was restored to Optimus Prime's body at the end of this altercation, the Maximals were triumphant and used Tarantulas's portal to return home to Cybertron, and that Tarantulas somehow fled to Unicron.}}

After using the [[Divine Light]] to access [[Primus]]'s power, [[Cryotek (Universe)|Cryotek]] reanimated several [[Sharkticon (G1)|Sharkticon]] corpses into facsimiles of [[Megatron (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Megatron]]'s old subordinates, including one of Tarantulas. {{storylink|Wreckers: Finale Part II}}

[[File:Escape-Tarantulas.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|Tarantulus {{sic}} basically just never dies.]]

A year after the [[Great Reformatting]], the [[Unicron virus|influence]] of [[Unicron]] swayed an abducted [[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]] to the side of darkness. As she was escorted by [[Tankor (BM)|Tankor]] and [[Reptilion]] into the heart of the Chaos Bringer, she was surprised to see Tarantulas (still in his undead body) greet her as she joined the ranks of the [[Minion of Unicron|Minions of Unicron]]. She hissed with disgust while Tarantulas noted that it was just like old times. {{storylink|Escape (Universe)|Escape}}

Tarantulas had learned that [[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]] had been assembling the [[Child of Primus|Children of Primus]] to counter Unicron's Minions, and so he sent Blackarachnia on a mission to [[Primax 797.18 Epsilon|her home Cybertron]] to sever the link between the Transformers and [[Primus]] by invading [[Vector Sigma]]'s chamber and destroying Alpha Trion. He gave Blackarachnia a swarm of [[Piranacon (Universe)|Piranacon]]s and directions to the chamber through a structural weak point near the [[Rust Sea]]. {{storylink|Homecoming (Universe)|Homecoming}}
{{-}}

====''Transformers Legends'' anthology====
The [[Megatron (G1)|original Megatron]], now inside the mind of [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] after the latter planted the former's spark inside his body, berated the Predacon leader's failures—in particular, being led astray time and again by such treacherous subordinates as Tarantulas. {{storylink|A Meeting of Minds}}

====IDW ''Beast Wars'' comics====
One account states that when Tarantulas was born at the [[Pit (facility)|Pit]], a glitch in the process granted him insight into the fact that an alien force was manipulating the Predacons for its ends. Thus, Tarantulas became obsessed with whatever this force was. {{storylink|Transformers: Beast Wars Sourcebook|Beast Wars Sourcebook #4}}

Another account stated that Tarantulas was one of the [[Tripredacus Council]]'s covert agents, working for them since before the Great Wars began to be recorded. As a key member of the council's schemes, Tarantulas helped develop the combiner technology that led to [[Predacus]]. {{storylink|#Combiner Wars|''Combiner Wars'' Tarantulas bio}}

Before his travels off-world, Tarantulas worked in tandem with the Tripredacus Council, who sought to unite Cybertron under a single, "purer" race. As the Great War drew to a close, Tarantulas received field intelligence reporting startling news: both [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]] and [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]] had died in a terrible confrontation between their forces. Though his masters weren't particularly moved by this turn of events, [[Megatron (BW)|a renegade]] within their army's ranks was. It became clear to the council that this upstart would resume the offensive against the enemy forces despite being ordered not to, and so Tarantulas was sent back out into the field to try and prevent any further complications from arising out of the situation.

While Tarantulas was away, the Council's secret base was discovered, and due to an [[Axalon (BW)|exploration vessel]] accidentally getting in its path, the transmatter bomb the Council had attempted to launch, to reformat all of Cybertron at once, was deflected from its proper course. Ram Horn, Cicadacon, Sea Clamp, and Ravage all met up with Tarantuals in the field, and confronted the gestalt [[Predaking (G1)|Predaking]], who was among the Decepticons causing dissension in their ranks. Tarantulas and his allies isolated him on the battlefield, and merged into their own gestalt form, [[Predacus]], to slay him.

Tarantulas next met with the upstart now calling himself "Megatron", and told him that the transmatter raining down on the planet was the result of a doomsday weapon of Galvatron's going off, triggered by the mad tyrant's death. He next informed Megatron that Predaking has comitted suicide out of shame for his involvement in Galvatron's plans. The Tripredacus Council had hoped these lies would be enough to dissuade Megatron from continuing hostilities, but this was not the case, and so moved on to plan B: sniping Megatron with a stun beam, and surrendering to the Autobots themselves.

For the "great risks" Tarantulas took towards the pursuit of peace, he was granted amnesty after the signing of the Pax Cybertronia. He had a hearty laugh at the expense of the Autobots' gullibility over this. {{storylink|Dawn of the Predacus}}

During his time on Earth, Tarantulas discovered the force he was obsessed with since birth was the [[Vok]]. {{storylink|Transformers: Beast Wars Sourcebook|Beast Wars Sourcebook #4}} He also programmed the Predacons' mobile fortress, the [[Arachnid]], utilizing his own personality programs to give it some form of sentience, accompanied by Tarantulas's own tendency for cruelty. {{storylink|Transformers: Beast Wars Sourcebook|Beast Wars Sourcebook #1}}

While [[Magmatron]] surveyed the timestream, he witnessed several key events during the Beast Wars. Among these was Tarantulas in his original "beast" body skulking in his lair. {{storylink|The Gathering issue 1|The Gathering #1}}

====SD BotCon====
Tarantulas joined Ravage at a bar to [[Dawn of the Predacus|laugh maniacally over drinks]], only for the pair to be approached by [[Beetle]] after their fourth outburst; the pair were being kicked out since everyone else was tired of their cackling. Thankfully, Tarantulas knew of a place where they could laugh to their hearts' content... a children's ball pit! {{storylink|SD SG#SDBC1|SD BotCon #1}}

====''Timelines''====
[[File:TheftOfGoldenDisk-Tarantulas.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.66|What y'wanna do? Wanna be hackers? Code crackers? Slackers? Wastin' time with all the chatroom yakkers? WHAT?]]
Tarantulas decoded the information on the [[Golden Disk (Voyager)|Golden Disk]] which had been freshly stolen by Megatron. He thought this was quite hilarious, but then, he thinks that about everything. {{storylink|Theft of the Golden Disk}}

[[File:Tarantulasdawn.jpg|thumb|See? A Planet X key in the corner of the pic. He's working for Unicron! Get him!]]
As [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] and his rogue band of Predacons escaped [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] in their stolen ship, the ''[[Darksyde (BW)|Darksyde]]'', Tarantulas was in charge of scanning the disk for a desired set of coordinates. While Megatron was not watching, he was in secret communication with [[Cicadacon|General Cicadacon]] of the [[Tripredacus Council]].

Using the decoded coordinates, the ''Darksyde'' opened a [[transwarp]] portal, which it and the [[Axalon (BW)|''Axalon'']] passed through. {{storylink|Dawn of Future's Past}}

Two weeks after [[Airazor (BW)|Airazor]] was reborn on [[Earth]], Tarantulas fought to defend an orbital weapon from the Maximals. The launching pad was destroyed by Airazor. {{storylink|The Razor's Edge}}
{{-}}

====''Wings Universe''====
[[File:Tarantulasemerges-ACommonFoe.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1 Well, howdy! Just scratching the wall, don't mind me!]]
One of four mysterious protoforms found by [[Sky-Byte (RID)#Wings Universe|Sky-Byte]] in the laboratory of [[Jhiaxus (G2)#Wings Universe|Jhiaxus]] while trying to save his former collaborator's clones from the Autobots, {{storylink|A Common Foe}} Tarantulas and [[Tripredacus Council|the other three]] pledged allegiance to the Predacons in suspiciously quick time.<ref name="TFSS3bio">"Tarantulas is a being without a history. In his rush to remove Jhiaxus' clones from his laboratory before the Autobots discovered its location, Sky-Byte mistakenly extracted four stasis pods of unknown origin. The emergent robots immediately declared for the Predacon cause, some might say suspiciously quickly. Of the four robots, Tarantulas has since discovered an endless fascination with experimental science, especially seeking any opportunity for vivisection."</ref>

=====''Hot Shot's Bot Thoughts''=====
The Tarantulas of [[Primax 509.28 Epsilon]] was interviewed by [[Hot Shot (Armada)|Shotimus Prime]], who seemed determined to prove that Tarantulas was also [[Sideways (Armada)|Sideways]]. Annoyed by Shotimus's badgering, Tarantulas eventually resorted to pulling the Matrix out of Shotimus's chest, reverting him to Hot Shot, and then hitting him repeatedly with it. {{storylink|Hot Shot's Bot Thoughts}}

====Waspscream continuity====
In [[Primax 208.06 Zeta]], Tarantulas joined [[Waspinator (BW)|Waspscream]]'s successful coup against Megatron. Waspscream then convinced Tarantulas to decode Megatron's Golden Disk by promising to make Tarantulas his lieutenant upon returning to Cybertron and deposing the Tripredacus Council. Unfortunately en route, Megatron escaped, conquered Cybertron with a [[transformation virus]], and turned the bodies of Cybertron's populace into [[Vehicon (BM)|Vehicon]]s. Upon arrival, Waspscream's crewmembers who had [[transmetal]] forms managed to survive the virus and escape Megatron's clutches, eventually finding their way to the [[Oracle (BM)|Oracle]], who granted them [[technorganic]] forms. Waspscream's Predacons waged a valiant Spark War against the Vehicons, eventually achieving victory. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/08/16}}

===''Beast Wars Metals'' manga===
[[File:TarantulasMangaMouth01.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Tarantulas raises an army of mannequins to strike terror into his foes.]]

Following the [[Quantum surge]], Tarantulas was upgraded into a [[Transmetal]]. Scheming with [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] within their floating island base, [[Hindenburg]], Tarantulas developed a plan to revive the deceased [[Optimus Primal]] as a [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] slave. Recovering Primal's mindless, raging body, Tarantulas staged a strange voodoo ceremony (complete with boiling cauldron). As Megatron pricked his finger and prepared to use his mutated blood to turn Primal's rampaging body into his slave, the spark of Optimus Primal returned to it just in the nick of time. As Primal turned into a Transmetal, Tarantulas began to celebrate, convinced that his plan had worked out better than he had thought, unaware of what was really going on. In fact, he was ''so'' convinced that Primal was now a Predacon slave, that he ordered the monkey to give him a shoulder massage. Optimus Primal proceeded to knock Tarantulas's block off. {{storylink|Beast Wars Metals issue 1|Beast Wars Metals #1}}

Tarantulas pulled himself together and confronted Tigatron, only to be promptly sliced in half. {{storylink|Beast Wars Metals issue 2|Beast Wars Metals #2}}

Undeterred, he taped himself back together and planted an [[arachnoid]] in Tigatron which gave Tarantulas control of the Maximal samurai's mind and body. {{storylink|Beast Wars Metals issue 3|Beast Wars Metals #3}} Airazor linked her mind to Tigatron's in an attempt to free her beloved and while her body fought Tigatron, Airazor's consciousness fought Tarantulas and his virtual minions. Ultimately, with Blackarachnia's help, Tigatron's mind was freed, though Airazor died in the process, killed by the mind-controlled Tigatron. Optimus Primal arrived and promptly stomped Tarantulas to death and blew his body to pieces. {{storylink|Beast Wars Metals issue 4|Beast Wars Metals #4}}

Shortly afterward, the energies from sparks freed from an obliterated [[Rampage (BW)|Rampage]] brought Tarantulas back to life as a mindless zombie. He fought Optimus Primal but was destroyed for good by Primal's rocket-fists. {{storylink|Beast Wars Metals issue 5|Beast Wars Metals #5}}

===''Transformers Legends'' anthology===
When [[human]] archaeologists uncovered a cave filled with primitive language, [[Mini-Con]] [[Laserbeak (Armada)|Laserbeak]] translated it for them. The markings told of a time when the Maximals and Predacons crash-landed on prehistoric Earth, though the stranded Transformers were seen by the protohumans as gods. The "spider-god" and the "[[Waspinator (BW)|wasp-god]]," under instruction from their [[Megatron (BW)|leader]], enslaved the humans for the purposes of excavating "[[Energon|glowing rose crystals]]." Eventually, a "[[Silverbolt (BW)|wolf-god]]" came, and had a fierce battle with the spider, allowing the captive humans to flee. The spider was defeated by the wolf, and then buried underground in a cave-in. {{storylink|Fire in the Dark}}

====Ask Vector Prime====
In [[Aurex 1104.30-JH Zeta]], Tarantulas had his own agenda on prehistoric Earth. He deployed his [[Arachnoid]]s across the globe to search for traces of [[Super Energon]], accumulating a large cache of the powerful substance. Optimus Primal sacrificed himself to hijack Tarantulas's makeshift craft and destroy it in orbit, causing a [[Quantum surge|Super Energon Transwarp Explosion]] which granted a [[Transmetal]] upgrade to many participants in the conflict as well as created the [[Fuzor]]s. Later, Megatron attempted to use Tarantulas's secret experiments in a last-ditch effort to turn the tide, but ultimately, the Maximals emerged victorious in the war for the [[Mini-Con]]s. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/08/13}}

===''Transformers Legends'' comic===
Tarantulas sneakily browsed the toys for sale at [[Transformers Celebration 2014]]. {{storylink|Legends Bonus Vol.}} The head of [[Tera-Kura Co.]]'s science department and an expert at building robots, he he was responsible for production of their [[Nightbird (G1)|Nightbird]] clones. One day he was approached by the [[Decepticon]] [[Headmaster (technology)|Headmasters]] of [[OG World|another universe]], who offered him use of their technology in exchange for his help in building them new [[transtector]]s. Realizing he could use this tech to conquer the [[Legends Universe]] for himself, Tarantulas accepted. {{storylink|Headmasters Chapter Prologue}} Once a partnership between the Decepticons and Tera-Kura had been formed, he used data stolen from the [[Autobot]] Headmasters to build a body for [[Skullcruncher (G1)|Skullcruncher]] as well as the drone [[Batora]]. Seeking to eliminate the Autobots, his rivals on the technology market, he and [[Weirdwolf (G1)|Weirdwolf]] then sent out Skullcruncher to lure out and destroy them, but the Headmaster was defeated. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 22|Bonus Edition Vol. 22}} Tarantulas's boss, [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]], chewed them out over their violent approach, leading to a disgruntled Tarantulas building a body for Megatron that would turn him into the destructive [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]]. In the end, Megatron resisted the body and taught them a lesson, though Tarantulas pointed out that as he'd planned, Galvatron's destruction had increased Tera-Kura's sales. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 23|Bonus Edition Vol. 23}}

Not ones to give up, Tarantulas and Weirdwolf had [[Mindwipe (G1)|Mindwipe]] hypnotize Megatron back into Galvatron only for [[Blurr (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Blurr]] to undo the spell. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 25|Bonus Edition Vol. 25}} He was present at the office when [[Scourge (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Scourge]] attempted to take over Tera-Kura. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 26|Bonus Edition Vol. 26}} When a group of [[Nightbeat (G1)|mass-produced Headmasters]] from [[Axalon Trading Company|Autobot Axalon Trading Company]] started stealing Decepticon transtectors on the orders of [[Rewind (G1)|Rewind]], Tarantulas responded by activating the Galvatron body's mask, briefly brainwashing the unfortunate [[Rattrap (BW)|Rattrap]] into being evil. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 28|Bonus Edition Vol. 28}} Since his Megatron plan wasn't working out, Tarantulas chose to enter the Galvatron body and pilot it himself, using it to defeat Megatron and use his head mode as a soccer ball. Though he was defeated by [[Wheelie (G1)|Wheelie]] and [[Shūta Gō]], he was happy with the data he'd gathered about controlling a transtector. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 29|Bonus Edition Vol. 29}} He then finished a new transtector for Weirdwolf, shocking its owner by making it sentient (and revealing that Skullcruncher's had been so all along). {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 30|Bonus Edition Vol. 30}}

Tarantulas was initially gleeful when Tera-Kura purchased [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]], but quickly grew unsatisfied and wanted control of ''both'' Metroplex and Autobot Axalon's new base, [[Fortress Maximus (G1)|Maximus]]. He had Weirdwolf infiltrate Maximus and take it for Tera-Kura by using the [[Master Sword]], but the plan failed when Weirdwolf was unable to control the giant transtector's power. Using what he'd learned from piloting Galvatron, Tarantulas took things into his own hands by taking direct control of Metroplex and having him attack Maximus. The battle between Metroplex and Fortress Maximus ended with Fortress destroying Tarantulas's control device, and the scientist was arrested for his crimes. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 31|Bonus Edition Vol. 31}} He eventually broke out of jail and encountered [[Astrotrain (G1)|Astrotrain]], who agreed to hide him from the law in exchange for a transtector of his own. Tarantulas then found himself pressed to mass-produce these bodies for Astrotrain's master plan, and once he was done and expected to get along with his "fellow jailbird", Astrotrain promptly deemed him unnecessary and turned on him, sending him fleeing. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 40|Bonus Edition Vol. 40}} He next found refuge with Weirdwolf's faction of Decepticons, only to again be press-ganged into building bodies, this time for [[Full-Tilt]] and [[Trypticon (G1)|Trypticon]]. {{storylink|LG-43 Trypticon Project Chapter}}

===Ask Vector Prime===
To the best of [[Vector Prime]]'s knowledge, Tarantulas and [[Sideways (Armada)|Sideways]] did not think of themselves as relatives. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/05/15}}

[[Sideways (Armada)|Sideways]] claimed he showed up at the last second to help win [[#3H comics|the battle against Primal Prime]] but only referred to Ravage being there, not Tarantulas. {{storylink|Ask_Vector_Prime/Sideways_src#July_6.2C_2015|Ask Sideways, 2015/06/06}} He also claimed to know the secret origins of Tarantulas and the Tripredacus Council. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Sideways, 2015/06/28}}

===IDW Generation 1 continuity===
[[File:SinsoftheWreckers3-Mesothulas.jpg|left|thumb|250px]]

Mesothulas was a non-affiliated scientist who covertly worked for [[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]] during the early stages of the Autobot/Decepticon war. Mesothulas saw their relationship as symbiotic -— Prowl's imagination would feed into Mesothulas's desire to make the impossible real and vice versa. Their partnership resulted in many frightening advancements, such as [[stasis bullet]]s, [[Spark extractor|spark extraction]], [[Decepti-bomb]]s, and [[Aequitas]] itself. What he considered his greatest success, however, was the creation of artificial Transformer life—[[Ostaros]]. Prowl eventually began to have doubts about the ethics involved with Mesothulas's inventions, especially after the scientist unveiled his latest creation: a prison dimension Mesothulas dubbed the "[[Noisemaze]]". {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 3|Sins of the Wreckers #3}}

Unable to let Mesothulas continue his increasingly depraved experiments, Prowl asked [[Impactor (G1)|Impactor]] to dispose of Mesothulas and his creations by pushing the scientist into his own Noisemaze and destroying the entire contents of his workshop. The deed was done, although neither Prowl nor Impactor could bring themselves to put down Ostaros. Instead, Prowl falsified a new identity for him as the Autobot "[[Springer (G1)|Springer]]". {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 3|Sins of the Wreckers #3}} {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 5|Sins of the Wreckers #5}}

[[File:SinsoftheWreckers3 Ultra Energon.jpg|thumb|right|250px|''But then one day he went to that science lab'' ''That mutated spider came down'']]

Mesothulas was prepared for such an occurrence, though, having a personal jumpgate built into his body. Even still, the disorienting effects of the Noisemaze made it centuries before Mesothulas could remember and put it to use. Returning to his lab to find it empty, Mesothulas decided to follow where [[Shockwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Shockwave]] trode and went to [[Earth]]. There, he found and refined a sample of [[Ore-13|Ultra-Energon]] into [[obtenteum]], a super-fuel he used to power his future inventions. Inspired by the native wildlife, Mesothulas developed [[Chimeracon|perfect bio-disguises]] which nearly completely masked a Cybertronian's presence. One creature in particular, the spider, attracted Mesothulas's attention. He modified his own body with Chimeracon technology to gain a tarantula form and renamed himself "Tarantulas". {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 3|Sins of the Wreckers #3}}

At some point after adopting his new [[alternate mode]], Tarantulas kicked off the incident that would later be known as the "[[Roadbuster affair]]" - shrinking down to a tiny form, Tarantulas crawled into [[Roadbuster (G1)|Roadbuster]]'s ear and began whispering to the Autobot, convincing him to do terrible things to his recruits. Roadbuster assumed that he was hearing the voice of [[Mortilus]] and cheerfully started torturing and murdering his cadets on "Mortilus's" orders, while Tarantulas used the [[spark]]s Roadbuster unwittingly harvested to test the Chimeracon process. The Autobots found out just in time to save [[Hubcap (G1)|Hubcap]]. By that point Tarantulas had already fled the scene and everyone assumed that poor old Roadbuster had just gone round the bend. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 4|Sins of the Wreckers #4}}

Needing some real muscle on his side, Tarantulas became the patron of the anarchist group, [[Mayhem Attack Squad|Mayhem]], supplying them with similar bio-disguises. Meanwhile, he turned his attention to building a laboratory complex, the [[Tor]], within the Noisemaze. He also managed to turn Hubcap to his side, serving as a mole within the [[Autobot]] ranks whose [[Outlier]] skills let Tarantulas uncover Prowl's secrets, including the data containing Aequitas's proclamations. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 3|Sins of the Wreckers #3}} Even though Tarantulas admitted having been the voice of "Mortilus" that drove Roadbuster mad, the terrified Hubcap went with it in the hope of justice and getting a stronger body for himself. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 4|Sins of the Wreckers #4}}

[[File:SinsoftheWreckers3-Tarantulasspider.jpg|left|thumb|300px|''Oh, and now Meso crawls over everyone's walls'' ''And he's swingin' all over town'']]

With Prowl a wanted fugitive after his disastrous exploits on [[Caminus]], nobody noticed when Mesothulas ordered Mayhem to abduct Prowl. The disgraced tactician found himself in the Noisemaze, greeted by Tarantulas. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 1|Sins of the Wreckers #1}} Tarantulas suspended Prowl in his webs and presented Aequitas trial data, stolen from [[Verity Carlo]], as collateral for an open conversation between the two. {{Storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 2|Sins of the Wreckers #2}} With the greatest of anticipation, Tarantulas unveiled his new form to Prowl, who was horrified at his old collaborator's metamorphosis. Prowl suspected Tarantulas intended to use the war crimes data from Aequitas to simply blackmail him, but Tarantulas had more complex desires. Honestly, Tarantulas merely wished to work with Prowl again, to recreate the symbiosis of their original possibly-more-than-professional relationship. When Prowl still refused, he was placed in the company of his would-be rescuers: Verity, [[Springer (G1)|Springer]], [[Roadbuster (G1)|Roadbuster]], and [[Arcee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Arcee]], their most shameful, damning thoughts opened bare to him thanks to Tarantulas's new invention, [[Impetus]]. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 3|Sins of the Wreckers #3}}

Tarantulas explained to Verity that her current sickly condition was a result of exposure to the Aequitas supercomputer back on [[Garrus-9]]. Tarantulas attempted to force Prowl into Impetus, only for Prowl to try and talk him out of it, offering to tell him about Ostaros's ''true'' fate and lying that he had killed the artificial Transformer that day in the lab. Before Tarantluas could go through with his plan, Kup Impactor, and Guzzle crashed the Noisemaze with [[Debris]], threatening to tear the pocket dimension apart. Tarantulas ordered his Chimeracons to counterattack and Hubcap to transmit the Aequitas data across the galaxy, only for Hubcap to turn on his employer and free his Autobot prisoners. Arcee, Springer, and Roadbuster ganged up on the spider-bot, but he proved too powerful. Roadbuster managed to temporarily dispatch him by transforming into vehicle mode and ''ramming'' Tarantulas, sending both of them flying out the window. Tarantulas survived the fall by shrinking and crawling inside Roadbuster's head, just like old times.

[[File:K-PLUTCH.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The itsy-bitsy spider blew up Roadbuster's head.]]

Tarantulas taunted his old victim one last time... then expanded back to his full size, blowing open Roadbuster's head from the inside out.

As the surviving Autobots regrouped at the Tor, intending to destroy the entire complex, Tarantulas arrived, promising that before the day was done he would do "something weird" to everyone. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 4|Sins of the Wreckers #4}} Using mass displacement to enlarge his spider mode to massive size, Tarantulas used a retinal scanner to activate a final contingency plan: shrinking the Tor itself down to pocket size so that he can safely transport the facility out of the collapsing dimension. Tarantulas taunted Arcee, Verity, and Prowl, gloating that he'd healed Verity's illness for no reason other than to one-up Prowl. The mad scientist continued to grow as he ranted about his need for revenge on Prowl, prompting Prowl to reveal to his old friend that ''Impactor'' was the one to blame for the destruction of his lab. Realizing this, Tarantulas demanded to know what had become of Ostaros, and seconds later made the connection between Springer's voice and the fate of his creation. Thoughts of revenge momentarily forgotten, Tarantulas attempted to reunite with Ostaros, only to be halted by Arcee and Impactor. Arcee severed Tarantulas's beast mode head, using it to trip the retinal scanner and halt the Tor's contraction.

Having survived the loss of his beast mode head, Tarantulas managed to find Springer, earning himself a punch in the face from the green Autobot. His words were garbled by the energies of the Noisemaze, preventing any kind of meaningful dialogue between creator and creation. The pair struggled with one another as Springer repeatedly stabbed Tarantulas, neither of them able to speak or hear each other. Seconds later, Impactor detonated the entire Noisemaze, destroying almost all of Tarantulas's creations and perhaps the mad scientist with them.

Back in [[Nome]], Verity and Springer watched the northern lights, while a tiny spider spun a web in Springer's wheel-well... {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 5|Sins of the Wreckers #5}}

{{--}}

===''Beast Wars: Uprising''===
[[File:TriggerWarnings Tarantulas.jpg|right|thumb|300px|"HA HA HA! This section is not at all informative!"]]
{{charstubfiction|{{storylink|Trigger Warnings}} {{storylink|Derailment}}}}

==Games==
===''Beast Wars: Transformers'' video game continuity===
====''Beast Wars: Transformers'' video game comic====
[[File:BWgameUK-Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=0.85|Some great dialog there, Tarry.]]
Upon arriving on prehistoric Earth, the dangers of Energon radiation forced the Maximals and Predacons to take on beast alternate forms. Tarantulas picked up a tarantula in his palm and scanned it. Soon, Tarantulas spotted [[Cheetor (BW)|Cheetor]] moving in on the Predacons' crash site. Swearing revenge, Tarantulas transformed and attacked, and threatened to skin the Maximal alive. {{storylink|Beast Wars: Transformers video game advertising comic}}

====''Beast Wars: Transformers'' video game====
{{voiceactor|??? (English), ??? (Japanese)}}
[[File:BeastWarsPSX-Tarantulasstats.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.1|Sadly, there's no Eat Cheetor level.]]

Many Beast Wars combatants had managed to construct personal bases, customized to their personal tastes, due to the extended duration of the war. Tarantulas still preferred to operate out of a dark, underground lair. Tarantulas joined his fellow Predacons in battling not only the persistent Maximal resistance, but the interdimensional monsters known as the [[Skriix]].

=====Maximal campaign=====
After [[Rhinox (BW)|Rhinox]] had expanded his own personal base too close to Tarantulas's own territory, creating an opening for the Predacon to infiltrate Rhinox's personal metropolis. Tarantulas overtook Rhinox's base and reprogrammed its defenses, prompting the Maximals to retake it. The Maximal's offensive push forced Tarantulas to retreat deeper and deeper into the annexed territory, until he finally returned to his own lair. While he was in control of Rhinox's forces, however, Tarantulas had gained access to sensitive information, prompting the Maximals to follow Tarantulas back to his hide-out, and eliminate him once and for all.

=====Predacon campaign=====
Rhinox's expansion into Tarantulas's territory allowed the Predacons to infiltrate the Maximal's "Urban Area" and eliminate Rhinox. {{storylink|Beast Wars: Transformers (video game)|Beast Wars: Transformers}}

{{Note|Due to the nature of this game, a player may select various individual characters to perform the feats required in every level, and complete the game's narrative. Thus, any playable Maximal can fill the role of protagonist in Maximal Mode, and any playable Predacon can fill the role of protagonist in Predacon Mode. The various feats Tarantulas can accomplish throughout gameplay in Predacon Mode as the story protagonist are described on the [[Beast Wars: Transformers (video game)|''Beast Wars'' video game]] page.}}

===''Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals'' (N64)===
[[File:N64Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|Arboreal Camouflage Tarantulas? Blue Crusader Tarantulas?]]
{{voiceactor|[[Alec Willows]] (English), ??? (Japanese)}}

Tarantulas found a way to escape prehistoric Earth and return to Cybertron. The Beast Wars progressed in his absence for a time...

[[File:N64 Tarantulus.jpg|frame|left|Player 2 Has Entered His Stomach. Continue?]]
Then he came back, newly promoted and with an armada of Transwarp battleships under his command, out to end the Beast Wars and enforce the Tripredacus Council's will... {{storylink|Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals (N64)}}
{{note|Each character possessed an alternate ending, displayed if the game was beaten with said character. Each character has only their own ending listed on their pages, see the other characters' pages for Tarantulas's fate in those outcomes.}}

===''Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals'' (PS)===
{{voiceactor|[[Alec Willows]] (English), ??? (Japanese)}}
{{Storylink|Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals (PS)}}
{{charstubgame}}

===''Duel Fight Transformers Beast Wars''===
[[File:DuelFight Tarantulas.gif|thumb|upright=1.1]]
Megatron was capable of summoning Tarantulas forth to the battlefield during his attempts to acquire the super-powerful [[energon crystal]]. {{storylink|Duel Fight Transformers Beast Wars: Beast Warriors' Strongest Decisive Battle|Duel Fight Transformers Beast Wars}}
{{--}}

===''Transformers: Battle Tactics''===
[[File:BattleTacticsTarantulas.jpg|thumb|400px]]
Tarantulas participated in battles against a variety of opponents, both Autobots and Decepticons. Sometimes there were many of him! He appeared in three different bodies:
*''Tarantulas'' — This Super Rare character first appeared in the "Beast Wars: Episode 2" event, and could be recruited by by collecting 250 units of Cybermetal, 75 units of Transmetal, 35 event cores, and 10 cores of this character.
*''Tarantulas'' — This Epic Character was available in the August Daily Campaign and could be recruited by collecting 20 Alpha cores, 20 Beta cores, 20 Omega cores, and 10 cores of this character.
*''Tarantulas Transmetal'' — This Super Rare character was available to 2500 players during the second event of the "Transmetals: Episode 3" mini events.
{{storylink|Transformers: Battle Tactics}}
{{{!}}border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background:transparent"
{{!}}-
{{!}}style="background:transparent; border-right: 0px" valign="top"{{!}}
[[File:Battle-Tactics-Tarantulas-Timelines.jpg|thumb|400px Watch out!/Here comes the spider bike!]]
{{!}}style="background:transparent; border-right: 0px" valign="top"{{!}}
[[File:Battle-Tactics-Tarantulas-Transmetal.jpg|thumb|400px]]
{{!}}}
{{--}}

==Toys==
===Beast Wars===
[[File:BWtoy-Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|Interested in getting hog-tied with spider-butt rope? Running is the only 'no' available.]]
*'''Tarantulas''' (Deluxe, 1996/1997)
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''D-4'''
**''Accessories'': Launcher, 4 spider-leg missiles

: Part of the first wave of [[Beast Wars: Transformers (toyline)|''Beast Wars'' product]], Tarantulas transforms into an organic generic spider (''not'' a tarantula). His abdomen contains a spring-loaded missile launcher, which fires the anchor-missile kept in his spider-butt. This missile is attached by a string so he can hang from things like a real spider. The launcher can be removed and used as a [[robot mode]] weapon, using any of his front four spider-legs as missiles. Like all early Deluxe-and-up ''Beast Wars'' toys, he has two different robot mode "heads"; a robotic face and a "mutant" face. He is almost always depicted using the mutant face.

: There is a variation of this toy in the [[Hasbro]] line: Later releases (the smooth bubble) lack the yellow paint on his elbows.

: The [[TakaraTomy|Takara]] release of Tarantulas was originally identical to the Hasbro release. Later, a slightly color-altered version was released, using a brighter shade of green and a slightly darker gray. The color-altered version also replaced the blue eyes on the "robot" head and the black eyes of the "mutant" head with gold.

: This mold was used to make the first [[Blackarachnia (BW)/toys#Beast Wars|Blackarachnia toy]].

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1996/Predacon/Tarantulas/tarantulas.htm More information on Tarantulas at TFU.info]''

{{-}}{{anchor|VsDinobot}}
[[File:VS4-DinobotTarantuas.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|The classic battle of dino vs spider. We've all heard the tale.]]
*'''Brutal Showdown: Dinobot VS Tarans''' (VS pack, 1997)
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''VS-4'''
**''Accessories:'' Launcher, 4 spider-leg missiles

: In Japan, "Tarans" was available both as an individual and in a two-pack with "[[Dinobot (BW)|Dinobot]]". Both toys in this set were identical to their individual releases.

: Currently, it is unknown if the latter "more show-like" redeco of Tarantulas was ever released in a VS set.

{{-}}{{anchor|Transmetal}}
[[File:BWtoy-TarantulasTransmetal.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|I'm-a spawn of-a Unicron! I-a slice-a ya pizza!]]
*'''Tarantulas''' (Deluxe Transmetal, 1998)
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''D-44'''
**''Accessories'': Sawblade weapon

: Part of the first assortment of Deluxe [[Transmetal]]s, Tarantulas transforms into a robotic spider. He also has a third "transport" mode, flipping down a wheel from his abdomen and a saw-blade from under his beast-head, making a spidey-cycle. The saw detaches for robot mode to become a hand-held weapon.

: The Japanese version is slightly different, replacing the "TARANTULAS" [[tampograph]] with "DESTRON" and the Predacon sigil, plus his robot mode eyes are painted as a single visor to match the show look better.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1998/Predacon/Tarantulas/tarantulas.htm More information on Transmetal Tarantulas at TFU.info]''

{{-}}{{anchor|FKTransmetal}}
[[File:Tarantulas-FKTM.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|It's like Eight Legged Freaks, but classier, and with a pizza cutter.]]
*'''Tarantulas''' (Deluxe "Fox Kids" Transmetal, 1999)
**''Accessories'': Sawblade weapon

: A [[redeco]] of the Transmetal Tarantulas toy in grays, silver, and black. He and a Transmetal [[Cheetor (BW)/toys#TMFK|Cheetor]] redeco were part of the "[[Fox Kids]]" toys, so called for the advertisements for the Fox channel on the packaging (as the [[Beast Wars: Transformers (cartoon)|''Beast Wars'' cartoon]] had moved there from syndication). Internal Hasbro documents have listed this toy as "Steel Force Tarantulas",<ref>https://groups.google.com/d/msg/alt.toys.transformers/C30fV9dqOK0/gPO8D3N_PAUJ</ref> a name that did not make it to final packaging.

: These colors were used to depict Tarantulas in the ''[[Primeval Dawn]]'' and [[Transformers: Universe (comic)|''Universe'' comics]]. This toy was also later [[repurposing|repurposed]] as Tarantulas's [[Tarantulas (BWSG)|''Shattered Glass'' counterpart]]. With the toy's limited availability, secondary-market pricing for this item due to its fictional use has gone up.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1999/Predacon/FKTMTarantulas/tarantulas.htm More information on Fox Kids Tarantulas at TFU.info]''

{{-}}

===MicroVerse===
[[File:Tarantulas-Microverse.jpg|100px|thumb|I'm not [[Fantastic Four|The]] [[Thing]], I swear!]]
*'''Orcanoch''' ([[MicroVerse]], 1997)

: A small, non-transforming micro-figure of Tarantulas came with the [[MicroVerse]] [[Orcanoch]] playset. It was presumably painted based on the original design, as its upper body is copper rather than purple. Its only articulation is at the waist, letting it sit in any of the MicroVerse mini-vehicles or playset stations.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1997/Maximal/Orcanoch/orcanoch.htm More information on MicroVerse Tarantulas (via Orchanoch) at TFU.info]

{{-}}

===Beast Wars 10th Anniversary===
[[File:BWXtoy-Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|He's not here to help assemble Transmutate. That leg's his dinner.]]
*'''Predacon Tarantulus''' (Deluxe, 2006)
**''Accessories:'' Launcher, 4 spider-leg missiles

:This toy is a slight [[redeco]] of the original Tarantulas toy, more closely resembling Tarantulas's appearance in the cartoon (save the big Predacon faction sigil tampograph). Part of the second wave of [[Transformers: Beast Wars 10th Anniversary|''Beast Wars'' 10th Anniversary product]], he came with a DVD of the episode "[[Spider's Game]]," plus the left leg to [[Transmutate (character)|Trans-Mutate]].

:This release of Tarantulus has [[Misassembly|misassembled]] forearm/claws, which can be easily swapped to the correct position due to the [[ball joint]]ed elbows.
::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2006/Predacon/PredaconTarantulas/predacontarantulas.htm More information on 10th Anniversary Tarantulas at TFU.info]''

{{--}}

{{anchor|TimelinesToy}}
===Timelines===
[[File:Timelinestoy-TarantulasDOFP.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Everyone's second-favorite purple-and-yellow motorcycle two-Mini-Con-having servant of Unicron.]]
*'''Tarantulas''' (2015)
:Tarantulas is a redeco of ''[[Transformers United|United]]'' [[Scrapheap (G1)#United|Scrapheap]], itself a retool of ''[[Transformers (2010 toyline)|Transformers]]'' [[Wreck-Gar (G1)#Transformers (2010)|Wreck-Gar]] with a new head. He turns into a motorcycle. The toy is meant to represent his pre-''Beast Wars'' appearance. The toy also comes with two [[Arachnoid]]s that can be pegged into his left and right arms.

[[File:Timelinestoy-TarantulasDOFPslideshow.jpg|left|thumb|150px]]
:When first revealed at [[BotCon 2014]], the toy's color was different from the final release's appearance. The toy was lighter colored (including the Arachnoids!), his mouthplate was green, and his arms were entirely colored green, among many other differences.
{{2010Wreck-GarMold}}

{{-}}

===Combiner Wars===
{{anchor|DawnOfThePredacus}}
[[File:Timelines botcon tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|*Insert Spider-tank related caption here*]]
*'''Dawn of the Predacus''' ([[BotCon 2016]] box set)
**''Accessories'': Claw weapon, Combiner Foot/Hand

:A [[retool]] of ''[[Combiner Wars (toyline)|Combiner Wars]]'' [[Rook (Generations)#Generations|Rook]], "Predacon Tarantulas" features a new spider-esque head. As a ''Combiner Wars'' Deluxe limb he is able to combine with any Voyager Class toys released as part of the same subline but is, of course, intended to be combined with Sea Clamp, Cicadacon, Ramhorn, and Ravage to create [[Predacus]].

:Rather than 5mm hands, Tarantulas has forward-facing 5mm ports in front of his fists. This allows him to mount his claw-like accessory as an integrated weapon or use ''Combiner Wars'' combiner hands (one of which is included) as giant "Hulk hands".

:He was available exclusively at [[BotCon 2016]] in the "Dawn of the Predacus" box set with [[Ravage (G1)/toys#BotCon2016|Ravage]], [[Ram Horn#Combiner Wars|General Ramhorn]], [[Cicadacon#Combiner Wars|General Cicadacon]], and [[Sea Clamp#Combiner Wars|General Sea Clamp]].
{{CWRookMold}}
{{--}}

==Merchandise==
[[File:Tarantulasmutatingcard.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67]]
*'''Beast Wars Transformers Mutating Card Game''' (1997)
:Tarantulas was one of the 24 beast warriors to receive a battle card representation for the Beast Wars [[Beast Wars Transformers Mutating Card Game|card game]].
{{-}}
===Robot Heroes===
[[File:Robotheroestarantulasprimal.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|Don't take your eyes off your mech fluid, Primal.]]
*'''Optimus Primal vs Predacon Tarantulas''' (2008)

: Part of the second wave of ''[[Transformers: Universe (2008 toyline)|Universe]]'' ''[[Robot Heroes (toyline)|Robot Heroes]]'', this PVC figurine of Tarantulas' original body has articulation in the shoulders and neck. He was available only in a "Beast Wars Series" two-pack with [[Optimus Primal/toys|Optimus Primal]] (amusingly enough, the [[Maximal]] he also came with in the ''[[MicroVerse]]'' [[Orcanoch]] playset).

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2008/Predacon/RHTarantulas/tarantulas.htm More information on Robot Heroes Tarantulas at TFU.info]''

{{--}}

==Notes==
[[File:BWcommercial-Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|Not terribly appealing.]]
*Tarantulas is referred to as simply "Tarantula" in the [[commercial]] advertising his toy. This commercial and also early promotional pictures showed the original Tarantulas toy as being transparent orange, but the final toy was a clear deep purple instead. Presumably, this was for a little visual variety in the early line, which already had a largely tan toy ([[Dinobot (BW)|Dinobot]]) and a largely yellow toy ([[Cheetor (BW)/toys|Cheetor]]) in the Deluxe range, plus a Mega-sized Predacon arachnid then planned to be orange ([[Scorponok (BW)|Scorponok]]), and [[Tigatron]], who was at one point slated to be a traditional orange tiger.
[[File:TarantulasArm.jpg|upright=0.85|thumb|He tastes everything he holds.]]
*In the original control art for Tarantulas, the claws are shown in the same configuration as used in the show. In other words, the claws were somehow swapped during the assembly process and have remained as such on every version of the mold thereafter.
*The original Tarantulas toy has ''nine'' eyes in [[beast mode]], as does the show model. This makes characters' references to him as "eight-eyes" rather... interesting.
*Tarantulas's toy bios paint him as a really dumb ninja-like stealth assassin. Both of his [[Tech Spec]]s give him an intelligence of 4, even the numbers that accompany his ''Transmetals'' bio which mentions the cartoon's [[quantum surge]].
*In the first season, Tarantulas is characterized more as a cannibalistic, psychotic gourmand who happens to be the Predacons' Science Officer than as the mad scientist and master plotter he becomes from "[[Spider's Game]]" onwards. This is to the extent that his official season one profile makes several mentions of his eating habits, describes his sole interest as being "food", and summarizes his relationship with the other Predacons as simple disdain, as he considers them to all be potential meals.
*In the Japanese dub of ''Beast Wars'', Tarantulas retained his trademark cackle, but it was a little ''different''. His voice was very high-pitched and he shrieked almost constantly. His trademark laugh more closely resembled a wicked witch of sorts.
[[File:OptimalSituation Tarantulas insignia.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Tarantulas is one of Reprolabels's best customers.]]
*From "[[Optimal Situation]]" onwards, the [[Arachnoid]]s sport a Tarantulas-themed insignia.
[[File:TMtigatronboxback2.jpg|thumb|Pew! Pew!]]
*Tarantulas's origins are a bit complicated. He declares in "[[Other Victories]]" that he and the [[Tripredacus Council]] have origins other than Autobot and Decepticon, such that they would not be affected by the destruction of the Ark. Megatron's line about "Unicron's spawn" was apparently not intended by [[Bob Forward]] to be taken literally but as a generic Transformer insult; [[Larry DiTillio]] has said Bob "regrets" the line and they never had ''any'' fixed idea of Tarantulas' origin. Larry also said that had the show continued, the characters "might" be descended from the [[Cybertronian (faction)|Cybertronians]].<ref>[http://groups.google.com/group/alt.toys.transformers/msg/f06828ec523295c1?dmode=source&output=gplain Larry DiTillio's take on Tarantulas origins! at alt.toys.transformers]</ref> A Unicronian origin also creates potential canonical issues, as Tarantulas says that "under our rule, Cybertron will conquer the universe" ("[[Other Victories]]"), whereas Unicron's goal would have been to eat Cybertron. But, much like [[Terrorsaur (BW)|Terrorsaur]]'s line about "[[Darksyde (BW)|the dark side]]", this line developed a life of its own. Eventually this connection was reasserted in [[3H Productions]]' ''[[Primeval Dawn]]'' storyline, initially written by... Bob Forward. On the other hand, [[Fun Publications]]' "[[A Common Foe]]" depicted a [[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]]/Cybertronian origin for Tarantulas and the Tripredacus Council but left the specifics a mystery.
*Tarantulas's body in "[[Theft of the Golden Disk]]" is based on [[Ransack (Cybertron)|''Cybertron'' Ransack]]. His body in "[[Dawn of Future's Past]]", however, is a unique design not directly based on an existing toy, unlike the rest of the show characters in the story.
*Tarantulas is probably the only [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] [[Minion of Unicron]] who avoided being labeled a [[Decepticon]].
*From what can be observed from art on the back of Transmetal Tigatron's packaging, Tarantulas's vok-enhanced abilities include levitating and firing energy beams from his eye(s?) in [[robot mode]]. Neat!

===Foreign names===
*''Japanese:'' '''Tarans''' (タランス ''Taransu''), '''Tarantulas''' (タランチュラス ''Taranchurasu'')
*''Italian:'' '''Metal Tarantulas''' (Transmetal toy)
*''Korean:'' '''Tarantulas''' (타란튤라스 ''Talantyullaseu'')
*''Mandarin:'' '''Chīh-chū''' (Taiwan, 蜘蛛, "Spider"), '''Hóng Chīh-chū''' (Taiwan second and third season, 紅蜘蛛, "Red Spider"), '''Láng Zhū''' (China, 狼蛛, "Tarantula")
*''Polish:'' '''Tarantulator'''
*''Portuguese:'' '''Tarântulos''' (Brazil)

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Beast Wars Predacons]]
[[Category:Beast Wars 10th Anniversary]]
[[Category:Beast Wars: Uprising Predacons]]
[[Category:Cloud Predacons]]
[[Category:Combiner Wars]]
[[Category:Combiners]]
[[Category:Double agents]]
[[Category:Generation 1 Decepticons]]
[[Category:IDW Generation 1 Transformers]]
[[Category:Law enforcement]]
[[Category:Legends Predacons]]
[[Category:Minions of Unicron]]
[[Category:Ninjas]]
[[Category:Robot Heroes]]
[[Category:Scientists]]
[[Category:Timelines characters]]
[[Category:Toys "R" Us exclusives]]
[[Category:Transformers with three modes]]
[[Category:Transmetals]]
[[Category:Unicron-related characters]]
[[Category:Universe Predacons]]
[[Category:Universe (2008)]]
[[Category:Wings Universe Predacons]]

Tarantulas (BW)

2017-04-26T00:22:10Z

7Crimsonified7: /* Transformers: Battle Tactics */

{{factions|predacon|unicron|decepticon}}
{{disambig3|Tarantulas}}
{{featured}}
:''Tarantulas is a [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] from the [[Beast Wars: Transformers (franchise)|Beast Wars]] portion of the [[Generation 1 continuity family|Generation 1]] [[continuity family]].''

[[File:Tarantulasbw.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|[[BotCon 2000|"And fries! Lots of FRIES!"]]]]
'''Tarantulas''' is the scheming mad scientist of the Predacon crew. He's the type of mad scientist who experiments on living beings, cackling in his [[trademark]]ed laugh all the while, and then if things go wrong, happily eats what's left as his midday snack. The eating is what he was really looking forward to, anyway. It's this focused perversity that turns off even his fellow Predacons. Tarantulas's emotional detachment from their war also rubs his peers the wrong way. Fighting Maximals and following orders is just a required chore; his real passion is the unmentionable projects stashed in [[Tarantulas's lair|his "secret" lair]].

Nominally, Tarantulas was one of the Predacons to join [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] during his theft of the [[Golden Disk (Voyager)|Golden Disk]] and the search for [[Earth]]. In addition to being an utterly psychotic, sadistic sociopath, he has a record for treachery rivaled by few other Transformers. He is actually an [[Predacon Secret Police|agent]] of the [[Tripredacus Council]], which is trying to coax the Beast Wars toward an unspecified goal, where neither Autobot or Decepticon won the [[Great War (G1)|Great War]]. Who knows what other [[Unicron|dark secrets]] lie in his past.

If anything upsets Tarantulas, other than losing a potential meal, it's those pompous aliens who call themselves the [[Vok]]. He harbors a hatred for them strong enough to make him work to eliminate them by any means.

In some universes he can combine with the Tripredacus Council and [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] to form [[Predacus]].

Sometimes he is previously known as '''Mesothulas''' and sometimes his name is spelled as '''Tarantulus'''.

{{bigquote|You're ''insane.''|[[Tigerhawk]]}}
{{bigquote|So they ''saa''-aay! Wbrrwbrrbbppth!|Tarantulas|"[[Other Victories]]"}}

==Fiction==
===Toy bios===
[[File:PrimalVSMegs-Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Why Megatron, I do believe you're trying to seduce m— oh, hey, [[Razorbeast]].]]
Tarantulas was a sneaky, mysterious ninja feared across the galaxy. A master of the martial arts, he was suspected in the disappearances of many [[Human|Earthlings]], and rumors swirled of giant cocoons where he stored his prey. {{storylink|#Toys|Tarantulas bio}}

Tarantulas was guarding the Predacons' jungle-based genetics lab along with Megatron and Waspinator. When the Maximals discovered them, he engaged [[Razorbeast]] in combat briefly before Megatron called retreat and destroyed the lab. {{storylink|Optimus Primal vs Megatron!}}

After the [[quantum surge]], Tarantulas became a [[Transmetal]], with the accompanying vehicle mode to match. With his new set of wheels, Tarantulas didn't have to rely on stealth and deceit as much, instead speeding head-first into battle and using his new mechanical beast mode to overpower his enemies. {{storylink|#Transmetal|Transmetal Tarantulas bio}}
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===Cartoon continuity===
====''Beast Wars'' cartoon====
{{voiceactor|[[Alec Willows]] (English), [[Scott McNeil]] (English, portions of "[[Other Voices, Part 2]]" only), [[Yūichi Nagashima]] (Japanese)|[[Alexandr Novikov]] (Russian, 1st dub), [[Hervé Joly]] (French), [[Lutz Harder]] (German), [[Riccardo Peroni]] (Italian), [[Junseok Song]] (Korean), [[Humberto Vélez]] (Latin American Spanish), [[Fábio Vilalonga]] (Portuguese)}}

Lieutenant Tarantulas of the [[Predacon Secret Police]] was one of [[Megatron (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Megatron]]'s original crew, a mole inside his organization feeding information back to the [[Tripredacus Council]] without his knowledge. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part 2)}} More than that, he was a ''direct'' agent of the Council and shared their origins, with an overall agenda to alter the timeline by going back to prehistoric Earth and completely destroying the [[Ark (G1)|''Ark'' and the Transformers within]]. {{storylink|Other Victories}} The plan went tits up though, as Megatron's ''Darksyde'' warship ended up crashing on an unidentified planet and contact with Cybertron was lost.{{storylink|Beast Wars (Part 1)}} Tarantulas carried on as normal despite this setback. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part 2)}}

[[File:TheWeb Tarantulas beast mode.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|Not arachnophobic, eh? I can fix that.]]
As Megatron's technical leader, he manned the scanners to appropriate beast forms based on the most powerful local creatures, choosing the form of an over-sized spider for himself. He cheerfully took part in the first battle of the [[Beast Wars (event)|Beast Wars]], only to succumb to energon buildup while the Maximals were escaping. {{storylink|Beast Wars (Part 1)}} The Predacons uncovered a stash of energon crystals atop a mountain, but were forced to fight in their [[beast mode]]s. Tarantulas and [[Rattrap (BW)|Rattrap]] fought in this manner until Megatron triggered a chain reaction which caused the energon to explode. {{storylink|Beast Wars (Part 2)}}

[[File:ChainofCommand Tarantulas firing.jpg|thumb|upright=1.34|Sure, he's fast on the draw, but he ALWAYS shoots himself in the foot.]]
It wasn't long before Tarantulas had set up his own [[Tarantulas's lair|underground lair]] to keep his experiments away from Megatron's prying eyes. After helping [[Scorponok (BW)|Scorponok]] recover a mega-cannon, Tarantulas managed to capture [[Cheetor (BW)|Cheetor]], trapping the young Maximal in a web in his lair with the intent of feeding later. Rattrap mounted a rescue, during which the cavern caved in on Tarantulas {{storylink|The Web}} Tarantulas was blasted by Rattrap during the battle at the [[Standing Stones]], and later accompanied Megatron and [[Terrorsaur (BW)|Terrorsaur]] to attack the ''Axalon'' after it appeared that [[Optimus Primal/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Optimus Primal]] had perished. After the Maximals got the ship's shields back up, he suggested to Megatron that they return to the Standing Stones. Unfortunately once there, the Maximals managed to retrieve Primal from the [[Vok probe|alien probe]] at the site, and Tarantulas was one of the first victims of the restored Maximal commander. {{storylink|Chain of Command (BW)|Chain of Command}}

Terrorsaur, his power boosted, defeated Megatron in combat before leaving Tarantulas in charge of the other Predacons. Tarantulas promptly tailed Terrorsaur to find out what his new power source was, and discovered it was a [[flying mountain]] topped with a cache of super energon. Before he could do anything with the knowledge, he encountered Rattrap, who'd come to destroy the mountain. Their fight ended with Tarantulas falling from the side of the mountain. {{storylink|Power Surge (episode)|Power Surge}} He subsequently took part in an attack on the Maximal base after a [[stasis pod]] crashed. While Megatron kept [[Dinobot (BW)|Dinobot]] distracted, Tarantulas and Scorponok ambushed the Maximal from behind. Unfortunately for them, Dinobot had time to activate the base defenses, and Tarantulas was blasted into the distance by the auto-guns. {{storylink|Fallen Comrades}}

When the Predacons finally captured a stasis pod, Tarantulas made sure that the [[protoform]] was given a spider beast mode, creating [[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]]. Megatron suspected he had ulterior motives, but was nonetheless pleased by the new soldier. Tarantulas seemed happy to follow Terrorsaur when the Predacon mounted another takeover attempt with the aid of Rattrap, but spent most of his time skulking around the ''Darksyde'' in search of rats to eat. He spotted Rattrap sneaking around, but the Maximal blasted him before he could do anything. He subsequently limped back to the others to find that Megatron had reasserted his leadership. {{storylink|Double Jeopardy}} After one of Scorponok's viruses turned Primal into a berserker, the Maximal leader broke into the Predacon base and, completely ignoring Tarantulas's attempts to stop him, pinned the spider to a wall using Tarantulas's own weapon. {{storylink|Gorilla Warfare}}

[[File:Tflocklens&tarantulas.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1|"Behold my latest invention... THE DISCO BALL VERSION 2.0!"]]
One of Tarantulas's many inventions, the [[transformation lock lens]], was instrumental in preventing the Maximals from contacting a [[temporal probe]] doing a flyby of the planet. He used it to ensnare [[Tigatron]] and Cheetor, then wreaked havoc with the Maximals' attempts to build a communications array, before he was finally defeated by Primal. Although his new toy was destroyed by the recovered Cheetor and Tigatron, the damage was already done, and the probe flew by uncontacted. {{storylink|The Probe}} After the Predacons discovered a Maximal spy camera in their base, they faked a mutiny and hid in a crevice. Tarantulas spent his nights being hugged like a stuffed toy by [[Waspinator (BW)|Waspinator]], and his days eating stray rats. While the Maximals repaired the ''Axalon'', the Predacons were discovered by Dinobot, and gave chase. Though they attacked the Maximal ship in an attempt to capture it, the affair ended with the ''Axalon'' crashing back to the ground. {{storylink|Victory (episode)|Victory}} After a Maximal victory, largely due to the efforts of Rhinox, Tarantulas captured the rhino in a web on Megatron's orders, so that he could be converted into a Predacon by the [[Transmuter (BW)|Transmuter]]. In return, the new Predacon poisoned him and Blackarachnia. {{storylink|Dark Designs}}

[[File:Spider'sGame Taratulas hauling stasis pod.jpg|thumb|upright=1.45|Ever the engineer, Tarantulas invents the low-tech equivalent of a tow truck.]]
Tarantulas detected another stasis pod landing in [[Grid Scavos]], but Megatron refused to let him go and assist in the recovery, much to his disgust. {{storylink|The Spark}} The next time a stasis pod crashed, Tarantulas was more prepared. From his lair, he used a [[magna pulse]] to disable both the ''Darksyde'' and ''Axalon'' to allow him to investigate without interference. Unfortunately for him, Blackarachnia had found his lair, and insisted on coming along to help. At the pod, Tarantulas reprogrammed the new arrival into a Predacon, but was disappointed that a beast mode had already been chosen, and [[Inferno (BW)|Inferno]] would not be another spider. In the confusion that followed, he made off with the real prize — the stasis pod itself. Unfortunately for him, Tigatron destroyed the pod before he could get very far, and he was forced to retreat when Megatron arrived. Later, in his lair, he inadvertently told Blackarachnia that the planet was doomed, and she realized he was intending to build an escape ship, however he threw her out before she could work out any more of his plans. {{storylink|Spider's Game}}

Tarantulas took part in a diversionary attack while Waspinator and Terrorsaur stole the Maximals' [[rectifier coil]]. After the Maximals went feral, the Predacons mounted a hunting expedition, though Tarantulas was stuck supporting the back end of Megatron's chair. {{storylink|Call of the Wild}} On another occasion, Tarantulas detected what appeared to be walking energon. Megatron realized that an earlier battle had left four of the Maximals contaminated and blinded, and ordered Tarantulas to send Terrorsaur to investigate. {{storylink|Dark Voyage}} After Waspinator was possessed by the ghost of [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]], Tarantulas took part in the attack on the ''Axalon'', and pointed out once they'd conquered it that their own base was now undefended. Megatron's answer was to leave Starscream in charge of the ''Axalon'', a decision which would come back to bite him later. {{storylink|Possession}}

[[File:Dinobottarantulasrattrapthelowroad.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.34|"See? I told you I was taller than Tarantulas."]]
During an attack on the Maximal base, Tarantulas was able to infect Rhinox with an [[energon discharge virus]], though he himself was injured by Dinobot during the retreat. He was tracked by Dinobot and Rattrap, but eventually turned the tables by getting the drop on them, only to be flattened by a huge boulder. After recovering, he took advantage of their incessant arguing by trying to get the drop on them again, only to be knocked unconscious by a double punch. Finally, Dinobot attempted to use Tarantulas's body as a hostage, only for Megatron to blast it aside. Perhaps his only consolation was that he avoided the indignity of the fate that befell the rest of the Predacons. {{storylink|The Low Road}}

With the return of the [[Vok|aliens]] a certainty, Tarantulas stole a [[transwarp cell]] from the ''Darksyde'', slagging Waspinator in the process. Megatron detected the theft and used Blackarachnia as a distraction while he remotely inserted his own programming into the cell. The two spiders later took part in an attempt to prevent Tigatron from escaping the Predacon base, and were squished by a boulder Dinobot had set up. They were relatively uninjured and able to haul their damaged comrades back to the ship. {{storylink|Before the Storm}} The two spiders teamed up again, infiltrating the Maximal base and disabling Rhinox and Dinobot while the other Maximals were busy with the latest alien construct to appear. They became aware that the planet's second moon had just been revealed as an artificial, alien ''doomsday weapon'' in disguise, with Tarantulas remarking it was "the beginning of the end" for the planet. {{storylink|Other Voices, Part 1}} In the cargo hold, Tarantulas used the transwarp cell and a stasis pod to construct a ship, but was interrupted by Inferno, who torched the spider. Fortunately, Blackarachnia entered Tarantulas's mind to obtain the information to complete the escape ship, and he was able to set up a permanent neural link between the two Predacons. {{storylink|Other Voices, Part 2}}

[[File:ComingFuzors1 Tarantulas lives.jpg|thumb|upright=1.55|A new look, and he didn't even have to [[Spider-Man|sell out]] to [[Iron Man|Tony Stark]] for it!]]
When the [[quantum surge]] caused by the "second moon's" destruction knocked out all of the Transformers on the planet, Tarantulas's body was upgraded to a [[Transmetal]] form, and he forced Blackarachnia to drag it from the Maximal base, even getting her to ignore Megatron's command to stay and fight the Maximals. {{storylink|Aftermath}} With Blackarachnia's hard work and some serious-looking electrical arc generators, Tarantulas was restored to life. Megatron soon called him to the battlefield, so he left Blackarachnia to root around in their leader's computer files: by this point, the loss of the "moon" and the damages to the planet had revealed it to be ''prehistoric Earth'' all along... {{storylink|Coming of the Fuzors (Part 1)}}

Using his new cycle mode, Tarantulas quickly reached the Maximals' position. During the fight, he kept in contact with her, until a shot by Dinobot put him temporarily out of commission. After he came around, Blackarachnia reported that she'd failed to get the data he needed. The Predacons were soon routed by the resurrection of Optimus Primal, and forced to return to base. There, Megatron and Tarantulas questioned Blackarachnia, only to be told the vital data had been lost. Neither of them believed her, but didn't call her out. {{storylink|Coming of the Fuzors (Part 2)}}

With his old lair destroyed by the Planet Buster, Tarantulas was fortuitous in that Megatron assigned him with Blackarachnia and [[Quickstrike (BW)|Quickstrike]] to check out a cave filled with energon. He quickly surmised that it would make an excellent new lair, and attempted to get his two comrades interested in going it alone. Blackarachnia was more interested in getting rid of the neural link the two of them shared, and cracked an energon crystal, sending feedback through the link, to force him to sever it. By a fortunate coincidence, the three Predacons were soon attacked by [[Silverbolt (BW)|Silverbolt]] and Rattrap, and during the battle Tarantulas was able to convincingly fake the destruction of the cave, allowing him to utilize it as his own lair. {{storylink|Tangled Web}} When Dinobot defected to the Predacon side, Tarantulas offered to verify his programming, but Megatron decided it wouldn't be a very good idea to let Tarantulas into Dinobot's processor. {{storylink|Maximal, No More}}

[[File:OtherVisits1 Tarantulas beast mode.jpg|left|upright=1.2|thumb|Downside: everything tastes like feet now.]]
Back in his lair, Tarantulas's instruments detected the aliens again, and he rushed off to the site. He arrived shortly after Tigatron and [[Airazor (BW)|Airazor]] had been abducted, and zapped Cheetor, but was forced to retreat when more Maximals arrived. He visited Megatron, claiming to no longer be under the tyrant's command, but willing to help. The Predacons returned to the alien site to set up equipment, during which Blackarachnia revealed that she had learned through the broken neural link that Tarantulas hated the aliens. {{storylink|Other Visits (Part 1)}} Megatron, Quickstrike, and Tarantulas recovered quickly from the energy wave put out by the new [[Metal Hunter|alien construct]], and after Tarantulas's [[refractive web]] was activated, the trio ventured inside. Once Megatron had control of the construct, he terminated his alliance with Tarantulas, dropping the Predacon from a great height. Infuriated, Tarantulas helped the Maximals attack the construct, infiltrating it along with Rattrap, and sabotaging the transwarp cells which Megatron installed, causing the ship to explode. {{storylink|Other Visits (Part 2)}}

Though a bug planted on Megatron's chair, Tarantulas learned that Blackarachnia had been sent to recover a new protoform, and took the opportunity to threaten her to try and extract the information he suspected she'd gained from Megatron's computers. Unfortunately for him, Silverbolt stepped in and defended Blackarachnia, shortly before an energon explosion separated everyone. Though Tarantulas found the stasis pod, [[Rampage (BW)|its contents]] found him, and his body parts were spread liberally over a wide area. {{storylink|Bad Spark}} Dinobot later tracked down Tarantulas in an attempt to find out what Megatron's latest scheme was. Though Tarantulas didn't know, Dinobot forced him to act as transport, and they soon found Megatron preparing to torch a valley fill of [[Protohuman]]s. Tarantulas took advantage of Dinobot's distraction to shoot the Maximal, only for Dinobot to drop a boulder on him. {{storylink|Code of Hero}}

[[File:Agenda3 Tarantulas button push.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Tarantulas presses the History Eraser Button.]]
Alerted by the [[transwarp wavefront]], the Tripredacus Council sent covert agent [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] to capture Megatron. The former Decepticon led the Maximals to apprehend Megatron, and Tarantulas assisted by taking down the ''Darksyde''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> defense system. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part 1)}} Megatron, much to his indignation, was later informed by Ravage that the spider was a lieutenant in the Predacon Secret Police; Tarantulas joined in the diss by laughing over a comm-screen at his former boss. Tarantulas was able to instruct the Maximals in the location of a stash of energon crystals that Megatron had hidden. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part 2)}} When Ravage was persuaded to change sides by the Predacon leader, Tarantulas appeared to come too, manning the [[transwarp cruiser]]'s weapons systems for an attack on the ''Axalon''. Alas, Rattrap chewed his way into the ship and tossed a couple of [[Fusion weaponry#Fusion grenade|bomb]]s at Tarantulas, which stuck to his hands before exploding. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part III)}}

Tarantulas survived, though, and was quickly put back together by his [[arachnoid]]s. He was repaired in time to witness the destruction of the ''Axalon''. {{storylink|Optimal Situation}} He was soon seen back at the Predacon base, working under Megatron's command once again with no mention of his former secession. {{storylink|Cutting Edge}} However, around this time he was also working on another scheme: restoring the ''[[Nemesis (G1)|Nemesis]]'', the flagship of the [[Decepticon]] fleet! At some point, he'd found it lying at the bottom of the ocean, and was ensuring it would not only fly again but had a Predacon control console and a transwarp cell that could take it back to Cybertron... {{storylink|Nemesis Part 1}}

He battled the Maximals alongside Megatron's [[cyber raptor]]s, taking the opportunity to try out his new Transmetal [[cyber venom]] to great success, though he was stomped on by a cyber raptor once the Maximals worked out how to destroy their controls. {{storylink|Cutting Edge}} He assisted in the construction of Megatron's [[disruptor cannon]], suggesting that they abduct an early human to complete the device when the other Predacons were unable to get too close to it due to the unstable power source. While the cannon was completed by [[Una]], she managed to use her knowledge of levers to tip a piece of heavy equipment on him. Though he survived that, Una had taken the cannon's stablizer crystal, and it exploded in the Predacons' faces when they tried to use it. {{storylink|Go with the Flow}}

[[File:CrossingRubicon Tarantulas fires on Silverbolt.jpg|thumb|left|260px]]
When the Maximals attempted to remove Blackarachnia's shell program, he revealed to Megatron that he had included "certain safeguards" that guaranteed she would not survive, and joined the other Predacons in an attack on the Maximals that was meant to disrupt the attempted shell removal. He fired the missile which knocked the Maximals' power off-line at a crucial instant, seemingly bringing an end to his "treacherous creation". Enraged by the death of his beloved, [[Silverbolt (BW)|Silverbolt]] attempted to kill the scientist, but was thwarted by [[Rampage (BW)|Rampage]], who was later defeated by a revived—and [[Transmetal]]ized—Blackarachnia. {{storylink|Crossing the Rubicon}}

Tarantulas participated in the Predacons' next attempt to retake the [[Ark (G1)|Ark]], utilising his latest invention to allow Quickstrike to take control of Optimus Primal... and ''that'' was when he made his move, at last. He manipulated [[Quickstrike (BW)|Quickstrike]] into throwing Megatron into the nearby lava while he himself set the Ark's engines to overload. Megatron survived his lava-dunking, gaining a new body in the process. However, he had lost his patience. While he'd tolerated Tarantulas's treachery, he could not tolerate incompetence. Tarantulas survived his punishment and fled back to his lair. {{storylink|Master Blaster}} This appears to have ''not'' been what Quickstrike thought he was going to do, and neither he nor Megatron had any idea why he'd planned to destroy the whole Ark.

[[File:TarantulasVok SignOfTheCross.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|"Save me, X-Men!"]]
Tarantulas was left ranting in his lair about how the Tripredacus Council's plans were wrecked, while his systems monitored the ''Nemesis'' (which was finished by this point). However, his rant and Nemesis plans were interrupted when the aliens—now revealed to be called the [[Vok]]—sent their emissary [[Tigerhawk]] arrived on Earth. Tarantulas let him take out the Predacons, then used his arachnoids to disable and capture him. Tarantulas intended to force the all-powerful being into his servitude by drawing the Vok influences out of his body and reprogramming him, and then have him obliterate the Ark: he cheerfully told the emissary that as he nor the Council had Autobot or Decepticon origins, they'd survive the resulting timestorm, turn Cybertron into a universe-conquering force, and one day even conquer the Vok themselves!

The scheme backfired, however, as his energy beam device expelled two ''actual Vok'' out of Tigerhawk. The formless spectres attempted to take over Tarantulas' body. Panicking, he made a religious sign to ward them off and then opened fire on them—a futile gesture that merely served to spin the energy device around 'til its rays were blasting him and his lab equipment. Overloaded by the beams, Tarantulas exploded, leaving nothing behind but his boots. The remainder of his equipment detonated seconds later, blowing the lair to rubble. Cheetor managed to rescue the inert Tigerhawk, and Tarantulas was presumed destroyed. {{storylink|Other Victories}}

Megatron knew that Tarantulas must have had some schemes on the go that the Predacons could pick up and use, and had his men search the ruins of the spider's lair. During this, he offhandedly referred to him as "[[Unicron's Spawn]]". He ended up discovering and using the working ''Nemesis''. {{storylink|Nemesis Part 1}}
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====Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity====
=====Yokohama Decepticon Secret Base=====
[[File:Yokohama Unicron Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|100px]]
As part of a plot to destroy the [[2014]] [[Transformers Expo]] in [[Yokohama]] and the Cybertronian artifacts within, Taratulas, working on [[Unicron]]'s behalf, secretly granted [[Predacon computer|NAVI-ko]] a new body and intelligence regarding [[Yokohama Convoy|Nemesis Prime]]. True to plan, NAVI-ko was sent to activate the clone and guide him to the Transformers Expo. However, thanks to Nemesis Prime's inherent sense of justice, the plan failed. {{storylink|Yokohama Decepticon Secret Base}}

=====''Cloud''=====
{{charstubfiction|{{storylink|Wild (Cloud)|Wild}} {{storylink|TFC-A03}}}}

=====''Beast Wars Diorama Story''=====
[[File:BWDiorama Motorarm Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|left|A ravenous, sinister fiend... and Tarantulas.]]
Sometime after Starscream's arrival to prehistoric Earth, Tarantulas was confronted in battle by a time-displaced [[Motorarm (BWII)|Motorarm]], who fended off the Predacon with his Beetle Claw attack. Tarantulas was not present when the Autobots from [[Movie (franchise)|another universe]] and Maximals combined all of their energies to attack a team of Predacons and Decepticons. {{storylink|Motorarm Chapter}}
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====3H comics====
Tarantulas was the inventor of the [[mind-drill]]. [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] "borrowed" it from him to get information out of [[Antagony (BW)|Antagony]]. {{storylink|Herald, Covenant, Schism, Paradox|Herald}}

[[File:Primevaldawn2 tarantulas matrix.jpg|thumb|Further proving the maxim: "If you want to steal the Matrix, you basically can."]]
Following the Beast Wars, Tarantulas's body returned to life, reanimated by the Vok powers he'd previously absorbed. The undead Tarantulas, along with a rebuilt Ravage (as [[Ravage (G1)|Tripredacus Agent]]), nurtured new troops to life through enigmatic means, growing [[Razorclaw (BW)|Razorclaw]] and [[Iguanus (BW)|Iguanus]] in tubes. {{storylink|Primeval Dawn Part 1}} {{storylink|Primeval Dawn II}}

The remaining Vok anticipated Tarantulas's plan to destroy the rest of them, take their power, and fashion the timestream to his desires, and so they assembled an army of their own consisting of [[Primal Prime]], [[Airazor (BW)|Airazor]], and [[Tigatron]]. Tarantulas met this opposition in battle, overwhelmed them, and triumphantly ripped the [[Matrix of Leadership]] from Primal Prime's chest. {{storylink|Primeval Dawn Part 2}}

Wounded critically, the Maximals withdrew to the Ark, while Tarantulas and his Predacons returned to his lair, where he directed them in the construction of a transwarp portal. Upon completion, Tarantulas planned to bring his stolen prize to his master, Unicron. Since his troops were getting restless, he promised them they could assault the Ark once they finished construction. Tarantulas was true to his word, and as Ravage led the Predacons against the Maximals, Unicron's spawn tried to stabilize the portal and prepared the Matrix for transport. {{storylink|Primeval Dawn Part 3}}

{{note|[[3H Productions]] dissolved before this storyline could be completed. Based on the subsequent ''Wreckers'' and ''[[Transformers: Universe (comic)|Universe]]'' storylines, it can be assumed that the Matrix of Leadership was restored to Optimus Prime's body at the end of this altercation, the Maximals were triumphant and used Tarantulas's portal to return home to Cybertron, and that Tarantulas somehow fled to Unicron.}}

After using the [[Divine Light]] to access [[Primus]]'s power, [[Cryotek (Universe)|Cryotek]] reanimated several [[Sharkticon (G1)|Sharkticon]] corpses into facsimiles of [[Megatron (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Megatron]]'s old subordinates, including one of Tarantulas. {{storylink|Wreckers: Finale Part II}}

[[File:Escape-Tarantulas.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|Tarantulus {{sic}} basically just never dies.]]

A year after the [[Great Reformatting]], the [[Unicron virus|influence]] of [[Unicron]] swayed an abducted [[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]] to the side of darkness. As she was escorted by [[Tankor (BM)|Tankor]] and [[Reptilion]] into the heart of the Chaos Bringer, she was surprised to see Tarantulas (still in his undead body) greet her as she joined the ranks of the [[Minion of Unicron|Minions of Unicron]]. She hissed with disgust while Tarantulas noted that it was just like old times. {{storylink|Escape (Universe)|Escape}}

Tarantulas had learned that [[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]] had been assembling the [[Child of Primus|Children of Primus]] to counter Unicron's Minions, and so he sent Blackarachnia on a mission to [[Primax 797.18 Epsilon|her home Cybertron]] to sever the link between the Transformers and [[Primus]] by invading [[Vector Sigma]]'s chamber and destroying Alpha Trion. He gave Blackarachnia a swarm of [[Piranacon (Universe)|Piranacon]]s and directions to the chamber through a structural weak point near the [[Rust Sea]]. {{storylink|Homecoming (Universe)|Homecoming}}
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====''Transformers Legends'' anthology====
The [[Megatron (G1)|original Megatron]], now inside the mind of [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] after the latter planted the former's spark inside his body, berated the Predacon leader's failures—in particular, being led astray time and again by such treacherous subordinates as Tarantulas. {{storylink|A Meeting of Minds}}

====IDW ''Beast Wars'' comics====
One account states that when Tarantulas was born at the [[Pit (facility)|Pit]], a glitch in the process granted him insight into the fact that an alien force was manipulating the Predacons for its ends. Thus, Tarantulas became obsessed with whatever this force was. {{storylink|Transformers: Beast Wars Sourcebook|Beast Wars Sourcebook #4}}

Another account stated that Tarantulas was one of the [[Tripredacus Council]]'s covert agents, working for them since before the Great Wars began to be recorded. As a key member of the council's schemes, Tarantulas helped develop the combiner technology that led to [[Predacus]]. {{storylink|#Combiner Wars|''Combiner Wars'' Tarantulas bio}}

Before his travels off-world, Tarantulas worked in tandem with the Tripredacus Council, who sought to unite Cybertron under a single, "purer" race. As the Great War drew to a close, Tarantulas received field intelligence reporting startling news: both [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]] and [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]] had died in a terrible confrontation between their forces. Though his masters weren't particularly moved by this turn of events, [[Megatron (BW)|a renegade]] within their army's ranks was. It became clear to the council that this upstart would resume the offensive against the enemy forces despite being ordered not to, and so Tarantulas was sent back out into the field to try and prevent any further complications from arising out of the situation.

While Tarantulas was away, the Council's secret base was discovered, and due to an [[Axalon (BW)|exploration vessel]] accidentally getting in its path, the transmatter bomb the Council had attempted to launch, to reformat all of Cybertron at once, was deflected from its proper course. Ram Horn, Cicadacon, Sea Clamp, and Ravage all met up with Tarantuals in the field, and confronted the gestalt [[Predaking (G1)|Predaking]], who was among the Decepticons causing dissension in their ranks. Tarantulas and his allies isolated him on the battlefield, and merged into their own gestalt form, [[Predacus]], to slay him.

Tarantulas next met with the upstart now calling himself "Megatron", and told him that the transmatter raining down on the planet was the result of a doomsday weapon of Galvatron's going off, triggered by the mad tyrant's death. He next informed Megatron that Predaking has comitted suicide out of shame for his involvement in Galvatron's plans. The Tripredacus Council had hoped these lies would be enough to dissuade Megatron from continuing hostilities, but this was not the case, and so moved on to plan B: sniping Megatron with a stun beam, and surrendering to the Autobots themselves.

For the "great risks" Tarantulas took towards the pursuit of peace, he was granted amnesty after the signing of the Pax Cybertronia. He had a hearty laugh at the expense of the Autobots' gullibility over this. {{storylink|Dawn of the Predacus}}

During his time on Earth, Tarantulas discovered the force he was obsessed with since birth was the [[Vok]]. {{storylink|Transformers: Beast Wars Sourcebook|Beast Wars Sourcebook #4}} He also programmed the Predacons' mobile fortress, the [[Arachnid]], utilizing his own personality programs to give it some form of sentience, accompanied by Tarantulas's own tendency for cruelty. {{storylink|Transformers: Beast Wars Sourcebook|Beast Wars Sourcebook #1}}

While [[Magmatron]] surveyed the timestream, he witnessed several key events during the Beast Wars. Among these was Tarantulas in his original "beast" body skulking in his lair. {{storylink|The Gathering issue 1|The Gathering #1}}

====SD BotCon====
Tarantulas joined Ravage at a bar to [[Dawn of the Predacus|laugh maniacally over drinks]], only for the pair to be approached by [[Beetle]] after their fourth outburst; the pair were being kicked out since everyone else was tired of their cackling. Thankfully, Tarantulas knew of a place where they could laugh to their hearts' content... a children's ball pit! {{storylink|SD SG#SDBC1|SD BotCon #1}}

====''Timelines''====
[[File:TheftOfGoldenDisk-Tarantulas.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.66|What y'wanna do? Wanna be hackers? Code crackers? Slackers? Wastin' time with all the chatroom yakkers? WHAT?]]
Tarantulas decoded the information on the [[Golden Disk (Voyager)|Golden Disk]] which had been freshly stolen by Megatron. He thought this was quite hilarious, but then, he thinks that about everything. {{storylink|Theft of the Golden Disk}}

[[File:Tarantulasdawn.jpg|thumb|See? A Planet X key in the corner of the pic. He's working for Unicron! Get him!]]
As [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] and his rogue band of Predacons escaped [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] in their stolen ship, the ''[[Darksyde (BW)|Darksyde]]'', Tarantulas was in charge of scanning the disk for a desired set of coordinates. While Megatron was not watching, he was in secret communication with [[Cicadacon|General Cicadacon]] of the [[Tripredacus Council]].

Using the decoded coordinates, the ''Darksyde'' opened a [[transwarp]] portal, which it and the [[Axalon (BW)|''Axalon'']] passed through. {{storylink|Dawn of Future's Past}}

Two weeks after [[Airazor (BW)|Airazor]] was reborn on [[Earth]], Tarantulas fought to defend an orbital weapon from the Maximals. The launching pad was destroyed by Airazor. {{storylink|The Razor's Edge}}
{{-}}

====''Wings Universe''====
[[File:Tarantulasemerges-ACommonFoe.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1]]
One of four mysterious protoforms found by [[Sky-Byte (RID)#Wings Universe|Sky-Byte]] in the laboratory of [[Jhiaxus (G2)#Wings Universe|Jhiaxus]] while trying to save his former collaborator's clones from the Autobots, {{storylink|A Common Foe}} Tarantulas and [[Tripredacus Council|the other three]] pledged allegiance to the Predacons in suspiciously quick time.<ref name="TFSS3bio">"Tarantulas is a being without a history. In his rush to remove Jhiaxus' clones from his laboratory before the Autobots discovered its location, Sky-Byte mistakenly extracted four stasis pods of unknown origin. The emergent robots immediately declared for the Predacon cause, some might say suspiciously quickly. Of the four robots, Tarantulas has since discovered an endless fascination with experimental science, especially seeking any opportunity for vivisection."</ref>

=====''Hot Shot's Bot Thoughts''=====
The Tarantulas of [[Primax 509.28 Epsilon]] was interviewed by [[Hot Shot (Armada)|Shotimus Prime]], who seemed determined to prove that Tarantulas was also [[Sideways (Armada)|Sideways]]. Annoyed by Shotimus's badgering, Tarantulas eventually resorted to pulling the Matrix out of Shotimus's chest, reverting him to Hot Shot, and then hitting him repeatedly with it. {{storylink|Hot Shot's Bot Thoughts}}

====Waspscream continuity====
In [[Primax 208.06 Zeta]], Tarantulas joined [[Waspinator (BW)|Waspscream]]'s successful coup against Megatron. Waspscream then convinced Tarantulas to decode Megatron's Golden Disk by promising to make Tarantulas his lieutenant upon returning to Cybertron and deposing the Tripredacus Council. Unfortunately en route, Megatron escaped, conquered Cybertron with a [[transformation virus]], and turned the bodies of Cybertron's populace into [[Vehicon (BM)|Vehicon]]s. Upon arrival, Waspscream's crewmembers who had [[transmetal]] forms managed to survive the virus and escape Megatron's clutches, eventually finding their way to the [[Oracle (BM)|Oracle]], who granted them [[technorganic]] forms. Waspscream's Predacons waged a valiant Spark War against the Vehicons, eventually achieving victory. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/08/16}}

===''Beast Wars Metals'' manga===
[[File:TarantulasMangaMouth01.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Tarantulas raises an army of mannequins to strike terror into his foes.]]

Following the [[Quantum surge]], Tarantulas was upgraded into a [[Transmetal]]. Scheming with [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] within their floating island base, [[Hindenburg]], Tarantulas developed a plan to revive the deceased [[Optimus Primal]] as a [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] slave. Recovering Primal's mindless, raging body, Tarantulas staged a strange voodoo ceremony (complete with boiling cauldron). As Megatron pricked his finger and prepared to use his mutated blood to turn Primal's rampaging body into his slave, the spark of Optimus Primal returned to it just in the nick of time. As Primal turned into a Transmetal, Tarantulas began to celebrate, convinced that his plan had worked out better than he had thought, unaware of what was really going on. In fact, he was ''so'' convinced that Primal was now a Predacon slave, that he ordered the monkey to give him a shoulder massage. Optimus Primal proceeded to knock Tarantulas's block off. {{storylink|Beast Wars Metals issue 1|Beast Wars Metals #1}}

Tarantulas pulled himself together and confronted Tigatron, only to be promptly sliced in half. {{storylink|Beast Wars Metals issue 2|Beast Wars Metals #2}}

Undeterred, he taped himself back together and planted an [[arachnoid]] in Tigatron which gave Tarantulas control of the Maximal samurai's mind and body. {{storylink|Beast Wars Metals issue 3|Beast Wars Metals #3}} Airazor linked her mind to Tigatron's in an attempt to free her beloved and while her body fought Tigatron, Airazor's consciousness fought Tarantulas and his virtual minions. Ultimately, with Blackarachnia's help, Tigatron's mind was freed, though Airazor died in the process, killed by the mind-controlled Tigatron. Optimus Primal arrived and promptly stomped Tarantulas to death and blew his body to pieces. {{storylink|Beast Wars Metals issue 4|Beast Wars Metals #4}}

Shortly afterward, the energies from sparks freed from an obliterated [[Rampage (BW)|Rampage]] brought Tarantulas back to life as a mindless zombie. He fought Optimus Primal but was destroyed for good by Primal's rocket-fists. {{storylink|Beast Wars Metals issue 5|Beast Wars Metals #5}}

===''Transformers Legends'' anthology===
When [[human]] archaeologists uncovered a cave filled with primitive language, [[Mini-Con]] [[Laserbeak (Armada)|Laserbeak]] translated it for them. The markings told of a time when the Maximals and Predacons crash-landed on prehistoric Earth, though the stranded Transformers were seen by the protohumans as gods. The "spider-god" and the "[[Waspinator (BW)|wasp-god]]," under instruction from their [[Megatron (BW)|leader]], enslaved the humans for the purposes of excavating "[[Energon|glowing rose crystals]]." Eventually, a "[[Silverbolt (BW)|wolf-god]]" came, and had a fierce battle with the spider, allowing the captive humans to flee. The spider was defeated by the wolf, and then buried underground in a cave-in. {{storylink|Fire in the Dark}}

====Ask Vector Prime====
In [[Aurex 1104.30-JH Zeta]], Tarantulas had his own agenda on prehistoric Earth. He deployed his [[Arachnoid]]s across the globe to search for traces of [[Super Energon]], accumulating a large cache of the powerful substance. Optimus Primal sacrificed himself to hijack Tarantulas's makeshift craft and destroy it in orbit, causing a [[Quantum surge|Super Energon Transwarp Explosion]] which granted a [[Transmetal]] upgrade to many participants in the conflict as well as created the [[Fuzor]]s. Later, Megatron attempted to use Tarantulas's secret experiments in a last-ditch effort to turn the tide, but ultimately, the Maximals emerged victorious in the war for the [[Mini-Con]]s. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/08/13}}

===''Transformers Legends'' comic===
Tarantulas sneakily browsed the toys for sale at [[Transformers Celebration 2014]]. {{storylink|Legends Bonus Vol.}} The head of [[Tera-Kura Co.]]'s science department and an expert at building robots, he he was responsible for production of their [[Nightbird (G1)|Nightbird]] clones. One day he was approached by the [[Decepticon]] [[Headmaster (technology)|Headmasters]] of [[OG World|another universe]], who offered him use of their technology in exchange for his help in building them new [[transtector]]s. Realizing he could use this tech to conquer the [[Legends Universe]] for himself, Tarantulas accepted. {{storylink|Headmasters Chapter Prologue}} Once a partnership between the Decepticons and Tera-Kura had been formed, he used data stolen from the [[Autobot]] Headmasters to build a body for [[Skullcruncher (G1)|Skullcruncher]] as well as the drone [[Batora]]. Seeking to eliminate the Autobots, his rivals on the technology market, he and [[Weirdwolf (G1)|Weirdwolf]] then sent out Skullcruncher to lure out and destroy them, but the Headmaster was defeated. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 22|Bonus Edition Vol. 22}} Tarantulas's boss, [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]], chewed them out over their violent approach, leading to a disgruntled Tarantulas building a body for Megatron that would turn him into the destructive [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]]. In the end, Megatron resisted the body and taught them a lesson, though Tarantulas pointed out that as he'd planned, Galvatron's destruction had increased Tera-Kura's sales. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 23|Bonus Edition Vol. 23}}

Not ones to give up, Tarantulas and Weirdwolf had [[Mindwipe (G1)|Mindwipe]] hypnotize Megatron back into Galvatron only for [[Blurr (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Blurr]] to undo the spell. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 25|Bonus Edition Vol. 25}} He was present at the office when [[Scourge (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Scourge]] attempted to take over Tera-Kura. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 26|Bonus Edition Vol. 26}} When a group of [[Nightbeat (G1)|mass-produced Headmasters]] from [[Axalon Trading Company|Autobot Axalon Trading Company]] started stealing Decepticon transtectors on the orders of [[Rewind (G1)|Rewind]], Tarantulas responded by activating the Galvatron body's mask, briefly brainwashing the unfortunate [[Rattrap (BW)|Rattrap]] into being evil. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 28|Bonus Edition Vol. 28}} Since his Megatron plan wasn't working out, Tarantulas chose to enter the Galvatron body and pilot it himself, using it to defeat Megatron and use his head mode as a soccer ball. Though he was defeated by [[Wheelie (G1)|Wheelie]] and [[Shūta Gō]], he was happy with the data he'd gathered about controlling a transtector. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 29|Bonus Edition Vol. 29}} He then finished a new transtector for Weirdwolf, shocking its owner by making it sentient (and revealing that Skullcruncher's had been so all along). {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 30|Bonus Edition Vol. 30}}

Tarantulas was initially gleeful when Tera-Kura purchased [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]], but quickly grew unsatisfied and wanted control of ''both'' Metroplex and Autobot Axalon's new base, [[Fortress Maximus (G1)|Maximus]]. He had Weirdwolf infiltrate Maximus and take it for Tera-Kura by using the [[Master Sword]], but the plan failed when Weirdwolf was unable to control the giant transtector's power. Using what he'd learned from piloting Galvatron, Tarantulas took things into his own hands by taking direct control of Metroplex and having him attack Maximus. The battle between Metroplex and Fortress Maximus ended with Fortress destroying Tarantulas's control device, and the scientist was arrested for his crimes. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 31|Bonus Edition Vol. 31}} He eventually broke out of jail and encountered [[Astrotrain (G1)|Astrotrain]], who agreed to hide him from the law in exchange for a transtector of his own. Tarantulas then found himself pressed to mass-produce these bodies for Astrotrain's master plan, and once he was done and expected to get along with his "fellow jailbird", Astrotrain promptly deemed him unnecessary and turned on him, sending him fleeing. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 40|Bonus Edition Vol. 40}} He next found refuge with Weirdwolf's faction of Decepticons, only to again be press-ganged into building bodies, this time for [[Full-Tilt]] and [[Trypticon (G1)|Trypticon]]. {{storylink|LG-43 Trypticon Project Chapter}}

===Ask Vector Prime===
To the best of [[Vector Prime]]'s knowledge, Tarantulas and [[Sideways (Armada)|Sideways]] did not think of themselves as relatives. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/05/15}}

[[Sideways (Armada)|Sideways]] claimed he showed up at the last second to help win [[#3H comics|the battle against Primal Prime]] but only referred to Ravage being there, not Tarantulas. {{storylink|Ask_Vector_Prime/Sideways_src#July_6.2C_2015|Ask Sideways, 2015/06/06}} He also claimed to know the secret origins of Tarantulas and the Tripredacus Council. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Sideways, 2015/06/28}}

===IDW Generation 1 continuity===
[[File:SinsoftheWreckers3-Mesothulas.jpg|left|thumb|250px]]

Mesothulas was a non-affiliated scientist who covertly worked for [[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]] during the early stages of the Autobot/Decepticon war. Mesothulas saw their relationship as symbiotic -— Prowl's imagination would feed into Mesothulas's desire to make the impossible real and vice versa. Their partnership resulted in many frightening advancements, such as [[stasis bullet]]s, [[Spark extractor|spark extraction]], [[Decepti-bomb]]s, and [[Aequitas]] itself. What he considered his greatest success, however, was the creation of artificial Transformer life—[[Ostaros]]. Prowl eventually began to have doubts about the ethics involved with Mesothulas's inventions, especially after the scientist unveiled his latest creation: a prison dimension Mesothulas dubbed the "[[Noisemaze]]". {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 3|Sins of the Wreckers #3}}

Unable to let Mesothulas continue his increasingly depraved experiments, Prowl asked [[Impactor (G1)|Impactor]] to dispose of Mesothulas and his creations by pushing the scientist into his own Noisemaze and destroying the entire contents of his workshop. The deed was done, although neither Prowl nor Impactor could bring themselves to put down Ostaros. Instead, Prowl falsified a new identity for him as the Autobot "[[Springer (G1)|Springer]]". {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 3|Sins of the Wreckers #3}} {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 5|Sins of the Wreckers #5}}

[[File:SinsoftheWreckers3 Ultra Energon.jpg|thumb|right|250px|''But then one day he went to that science lab'' ''That mutated spider came down'']]

Mesothulas was prepared for such an occurrence, though, having a personal jumpgate built into his body. Even still, the disorienting effects of the Noisemaze made it centuries before Mesothulas could remember and put it to use. Returning to his lab to find it empty, Mesothulas decided to follow where [[Shockwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Shockwave]] trode and went to [[Earth]]. There, he found and refined a sample of [[Ore-13|Ultra-Energon]] into [[obtenteum]], a super-fuel he used to power his future inventions. Inspired by the native wildlife, Mesothulas developed [[Chimeracon|perfect bio-disguises]] which nearly completely masked a Cybertronian's presence. One creature in particular, the spider, attracted Mesothulas's attention. He modified his own body with Chimeracon technology to gain a tarantula form and renamed himself "Tarantulas". {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 3|Sins of the Wreckers #3}}

At some point after adopting his new [[alternate mode]], Tarantulas kicked off the incident that would later be known as the "[[Roadbuster affair]]" - shrinking down to a tiny form, Tarantulas crawled into [[Roadbuster (G1)|Roadbuster]]'s ear and began whispering to the Autobot, convincing him to do terrible things to his recruits. Roadbuster assumed that he was hearing the voice of [[Mortilus]] and cheerfully started torturing and murdering his cadets on "Mortilus's" orders, while Tarantulas used the [[spark]]s Roadbuster unwittingly harvested to test the Chimeracon process. The Autobots found out just in time to save [[Hubcap (G1)|Hubcap]]. By that point Tarantulas had already fled the scene and everyone assumed that poor old Roadbuster had just gone round the bend. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 4|Sins of the Wreckers #4}}

Needing some real muscle on his side, Tarantulas became the patron of the anarchist group, [[Mayhem Attack Squad|Mayhem]], supplying them with similar bio-disguises. Meanwhile, he turned his attention to building a laboratory complex, the [[Tor]], within the Noisemaze. He also managed to turn Hubcap to his side, serving as a mole within the [[Autobot]] ranks whose [[Outlier]] skills let Tarantulas uncover Prowl's secrets, including the data containing Aequitas's proclamations. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 3|Sins of the Wreckers #3}} Even though Tarantulas admitted having been the voice of "Mortilus" that drove Roadbuster mad, the terrified Hubcap went with it in the hope of justice and getting a stronger body for himself. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 4|Sins of the Wreckers #4}}

[[File:SinsoftheWreckers3-Tarantulasspider.jpg|left|thumb|300px|''Oh, and now Meso crawls over everyone's walls'' ''And he's swingin' all over town'']]

With Prowl a wanted fugitive after his disastrous exploits on [[Caminus]], nobody noticed when Mesothulas ordered Mayhem to abduct Prowl. The disgraced tactician found himself in the Noisemaze, greeted by Tarantulas. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 1|Sins of the Wreckers #1}} Tarantulas suspended Prowl in his webs and presented Aequitas trial data, stolen from [[Verity Carlo]], as collateral for an open conversation between the two. {{Storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 2|Sins of the Wreckers #2}} With the greatest of anticipation, Tarantulas unveiled his new form to Prowl, who was horrified at his old collaborator's metamorphosis. Prowl suspected Tarantulas intended to use the war crimes data from Aequitas to simply blackmail him, but Tarantulas had more complex desires. Honestly, Tarantulas merely wished to work with Prowl again, to recreate the symbiosis of their original possibly-more-than-professional relationship. When Prowl still refused, he was placed in the company of his would-be rescuers: Verity, [[Springer (G1)|Springer]], [[Roadbuster (G1)|Roadbuster]], and [[Arcee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Arcee]], their most shameful, damning thoughts opened bare to him thanks to Tarantulas's new invention, [[Impetus]]. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 3|Sins of the Wreckers #3}}

Tarantulas explained to Verity that her current sickly condition was a result of exposure to the Aequitas supercomputer back on [[Garrus-9]]. Tarantulas attempted to force Prowl into Impetus, only for Prowl to try and talk him out of it, offering to tell him about Ostaros's ''true'' fate and lying that he had killed the artificial Transformer that day in the lab. Before Tarantluas could go through with his plan, Kup Impactor, and Guzzle crashed the Noisemaze with [[Debris]], threatening to tear the pocket dimension apart. Tarantulas ordered his Chimeracons to counterattack and Hubcap to transmit the Aequitas data across the galaxy, only for Hubcap to turn on his employer and free his Autobot prisoners. Arcee, Springer, and Roadbuster ganged up on the spider-bot, but he proved too powerful. Roadbuster managed to temporarily dispatch him by transforming into vehicle mode and ''ramming'' Tarantulas, sending both of them flying out the window. Tarantulas survived the fall by shrinking and crawling inside Roadbuster's head, just like old times.

[[File:K-PLUTCH.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The itsy-bitsy spider blew up Roadbuster's head.]]

Tarantulas taunted his old victim one last time... then expanded back to his full size, blowing open Roadbuster's head from the inside out.

As the surviving Autobots regrouped at the Tor, intending to destroy the entire complex, Tarantulas arrived, promising that before the day was done he would do "something weird" to everyone. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 4|Sins of the Wreckers #4}} Using mass displacement to enlarge his spider mode to massive size, Tarantulas used a retinal scanner to activate a final contingency plan: shrinking the Tor itself down to pocket size so that he can safely transport the facility out of the collapsing dimension. Tarantulas taunted Arcee, Verity, and Prowl, gloating that he'd healed Verity's illness for no reason other than to one-up Prowl. The mad scientist continued to grow as he ranted about his need for revenge on Prowl, prompting Prowl to reveal to his old friend that ''Impactor'' was the one to blame for the destruction of his lab. Realizing this, Tarantulas demanded to know what had become of Ostaros, and seconds later made the connection between Springer's voice and the fate of his creation. Thoughts of revenge momentarily forgotten, Tarantulas attempted to reunite with Ostaros, only to be halted by Arcee and Impactor. Arcee severed Tarantulas's beast mode head, using it to trip the retinal scanner and halt the Tor's contraction.

Having survived the loss of his beast mode head, Tarantulas managed to find Springer, earning himself a punch in the face from the green Autobot. His words were garbled by the energies of the Noisemaze, preventing any kind of meaningful dialogue between creator and creation. The pair struggled with one another as Springer repeatedly stabbed Tarantulas, neither of them able to speak or hear each other. Seconds later, Impactor detonated the entire Noisemaze, destroying almost all of Tarantulas's creations and perhaps the mad scientist with them.

Back in [[Nome]], Verity and Springer watched the northern lights, while a tiny spider spun a web in Springer's wheel-well... {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 5|Sins of the Wreckers #5}}

{{--}}

===''Beast Wars: Uprising''===
[[File:TriggerWarnings Tarantulas.jpg|right|thumb|300px|"HA HA HA! This section is not at all informative!"]]
{{charstubfiction|{{storylink|Trigger Warnings}} {{storylink|Derailment}}}}

==Games==
===''Beast Wars: Transformers'' video game continuity===
====''Beast Wars: Transformers'' video game comic====
[[File:BWgameUK-Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=0.85|Some great dialog there, Tarry.]]
Upon arriving on prehistoric Earth, the dangers of Energon radiation forced the Maximals and Predacons to take on beast alternate forms. Tarantulas picked up a tarantula in his palm and scanned it. Soon, Tarantulas spotted [[Cheetor (BW)|Cheetor]] moving in on the Predacons' crash site. Swearing revenge, Tarantulas transformed and attacked, and threatened to skin the Maximal alive. {{storylink|Beast Wars: Transformers video game advertising comic}}

====''Beast Wars: Transformers'' video game====
{{voiceactor|??? (English), ??? (Japanese)}}
[[File:BeastWarsPSX-Tarantulasstats.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.1|Sadly, there's no Eat Cheetor level.]]

Many Beast Wars combatants had managed to construct personal bases, customized to their personal tastes, due to the extended duration of the war. Tarantulas still preferred to operate out of a dark, underground lair. Tarantulas joined his fellow Predacons in battling not only the persistent Maximal resistance, but the interdimensional monsters known as the [[Skriix]].

=====Maximal campaign=====
After [[Rhinox (BW)|Rhinox]] had expanded his own personal base too close to Tarantulas's own territory, creating an opening for the Predacon to infiltrate Rhinox's personal metropolis. Tarantulas overtook Rhinox's base and reprogrammed its defenses, prompting the Maximals to retake it. The Maximal's offensive push forced Tarantulas to retreat deeper and deeper into the annexed territory, until he finally returned to his own lair. While he was in control of Rhinox's forces, however, Tarantulas had gained access to sensitive information, prompting the Maximals to follow Tarantulas back to his hide-out, and eliminate him once and for all.

=====Predacon campaign=====
Rhinox's expansion into Tarantulas's territory allowed the Predacons to infiltrate the Maximal's "Urban Area" and eliminate Rhinox. {{storylink|Beast Wars: Transformers (video game)|Beast Wars: Transformers}}

{{Note|Due to the nature of this game, a player may select various individual characters to perform the feats required in every level, and complete the game's narrative. Thus, any playable Maximal can fill the role of protagonist in Maximal Mode, and any playable Predacon can fill the role of protagonist in Predacon Mode. The various feats Tarantulas can accomplish throughout gameplay in Predacon Mode as the story protagonist are described on the [[Beast Wars: Transformers (video game)|''Beast Wars'' video game]] page.}}

===''Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals'' (N64)===
[[File:N64Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|Arboreal Camouflage Tarantulas? Blue Crusader Tarantulas?]]
{{voiceactor|[[Alec Willows]] (English), ??? (Japanese)}}

Tarantulas found a way to escape prehistoric Earth and return to Cybertron. The Beast Wars progressed in his absence for a time...

[[File:N64 Tarantulus.jpg|frame|left|Player 2 Has Entered His Stomach. Continue?]]
Then he came back, newly promoted and with an armada of Transwarp battleships under his command, out to end the Beast Wars and enforce the Tripredacus Council's will... {{storylink|Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals (N64)}}
{{note|Each character possessed an alternate ending, displayed if the game was beaten with said character. Each character has only their own ending listed on their pages, see the other characters' pages for Tarantulas's fate in those outcomes.}}

===''Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals'' (PS)===
{{voiceactor|[[Alec Willows]] (English), ??? (Japanese)}}
{{Storylink|Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals (PS)}}
{{charstubgame}}

===''Duel Fight Transformers Beast Wars''===
[[File:DuelFight Tarantulas.gif|thumb|upright=1.1]]
Megatron was capable of summoning Tarantulas forth to the battlefield during his attempts to acquire the super-powerful [[energon crystal]]. {{storylink|Duel Fight Transformers Beast Wars: Beast Warriors' Strongest Decisive Battle|Duel Fight Transformers Beast Wars}}
{{--}}

===''Transformers: Battle Tactics''===
[[File:BattleTacticsTarantulas.jpg|thumb|400px]]
Tarantulas participated in battles against a variety of opponents, both Autobots and Decepticons. Sometimes there were many of him! He appeared in three different bodies:
*''Tarantulas'' — This Super Rare character first appeared in the "Beast Wars: Episode 2" event, and could be recruited by by collecting 250 units of Cybermetal, 75 units of Transmetal, 35 event cores, and 10 cores of this character.
*''Tarantulas'' — This Epic Character was available in the August Daily Campaign and could be recruited by collecting 20 Alpha cores, 20 Beta cores, 20 Omega cores, and 10 cores of this character.
*''Tarantulas Transmetal'' — This Super Rare character was available to 2500 players during the second event of the "Transmetals: Episode 3" mini events.
{{storylink|Transformers: Battle Tactics}}
{{{!}}border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background:transparent"
{{!}}-
{{!}}style="background:transparent; border-right: 0px" valign="top"{{!}}
[[File:Battle-Tactics-Tarantulas-Timelines.jpg|thumb|400px Watch out!/Here comes the spider bike!]]
{{!}}style="background:transparent; border-right: 0px" valign="top"{{!}}
[[File:Battle-Tactics-Tarantulas-Transmetal.jpg|thumb|400px]]
{{!}}}
{{--}}

==Toys==
===Beast Wars===
[[File:BWtoy-Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|Interested in getting hog-tied with spider-butt rope? Running is the only 'no' available.]]
*'''Tarantulas''' (Deluxe, 1996/1997)
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''D-4'''
**''Accessories'': Launcher, 4 spider-leg missiles

: Part of the first wave of [[Beast Wars: Transformers (toyline)|''Beast Wars'' product]], Tarantulas transforms into an organic generic spider (''not'' a tarantula). His abdomen contains a spring-loaded missile launcher, which fires the anchor-missile kept in his spider-butt. This missile is attached by a string so he can hang from things like a real spider. The launcher can be removed and used as a [[robot mode]] weapon, using any of his front four spider-legs as missiles. Like all early Deluxe-and-up ''Beast Wars'' toys, he has two different robot mode "heads"; a robotic face and a "mutant" face. He is almost always depicted using the mutant face.

: There is a variation of this toy in the [[Hasbro]] line: Later releases (the smooth bubble) lack the yellow paint on his elbows.

: The [[TakaraTomy|Takara]] release of Tarantulas was originally identical to the Hasbro release. Later, a slightly color-altered version was released, using a brighter shade of green and a slightly darker gray. The color-altered version also replaced the blue eyes on the "robot" head and the black eyes of the "mutant" head with gold.

: This mold was used to make the first [[Blackarachnia (BW)/toys#Beast Wars|Blackarachnia toy]].

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1996/Predacon/Tarantulas/tarantulas.htm More information on Tarantulas at TFU.info]''

{{-}}{{anchor|VsDinobot}}
[[File:VS4-DinobotTarantuas.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|The classic battle of dino vs spider. We've all heard the tale.]]
*'''Brutal Showdown: Dinobot VS Tarans''' (VS pack, 1997)
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''VS-4'''
**''Accessories:'' Launcher, 4 spider-leg missiles

: In Japan, "Tarans" was available both as an individual and in a two-pack with "[[Dinobot (BW)|Dinobot]]". Both toys in this set were identical to their individual releases.

: Currently, it is unknown if the latter "more show-like" redeco of Tarantulas was ever released in a VS set.

{{-}}{{anchor|Transmetal}}
[[File:BWtoy-TarantulasTransmetal.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|I'm-a spawn of-a Unicron! I-a slice-a ya pizza!]]
*'''Tarantulas''' (Deluxe Transmetal, 1998)
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''D-44'''
**''Accessories'': Sawblade weapon

: Part of the first assortment of Deluxe [[Transmetal]]s, Tarantulas transforms into a robotic spider. He also has a third "transport" mode, flipping down a wheel from his abdomen and a saw-blade from under his beast-head, making a spidey-cycle. The saw detaches for robot mode to become a hand-held weapon.

: The Japanese version is slightly different, replacing the "TARANTULAS" [[tampograph]] with "DESTRON" and the Predacon sigil, plus his robot mode eyes are painted as a single visor to match the show look better.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1998/Predacon/Tarantulas/tarantulas.htm More information on Transmetal Tarantulas at TFU.info]''

{{-}}{{anchor|FKTransmetal}}
[[File:Tarantulas-FKTM.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|It's like Eight Legged Freaks, but classier, and with a pizza cutter.]]
*'''Tarantulas''' (Deluxe "Fox Kids" Transmetal, 1999)
**''Accessories'': Sawblade weapon

: A [[redeco]] of the Transmetal Tarantulas toy in grays, silver, and black. He and a Transmetal [[Cheetor (BW)/toys#TMFK|Cheetor]] redeco were part of the "[[Fox Kids]]" toys, so called for the advertisements for the Fox channel on the packaging (as the [[Beast Wars: Transformers (cartoon)|''Beast Wars'' cartoon]] had moved there from syndication). Internal Hasbro documents have listed this toy as "Steel Force Tarantulas",<ref>https://groups.google.com/d/msg/alt.toys.transformers/C30fV9dqOK0/gPO8D3N_PAUJ</ref> a name that did not make it to final packaging.

: These colors were used to depict Tarantulas in the ''[[Primeval Dawn]]'' and [[Transformers: Universe (comic)|''Universe'' comics]]. This toy was also later [[repurposing|repurposed]] as Tarantulas's [[Tarantulas (BWSG)|''Shattered Glass'' counterpart]]. With the toy's limited availability, secondary-market pricing for this item due to its fictional use has gone up.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1999/Predacon/FKTMTarantulas/tarantulas.htm More information on Fox Kids Tarantulas at TFU.info]''

{{-}}

===MicroVerse===
[[File:Tarantulas-Microverse.jpg|100px|thumb|I'm not [[Fantastic Four|The]] [[Thing]], I swear!]]
*'''Orcanoch''' ([[MicroVerse]], 1997)

: A small, non-transforming micro-figure of Tarantulas came with the [[MicroVerse]] [[Orcanoch]] playset. It was presumably painted based on the original design, as its upper body is copper rather than purple. Its only articulation is at the waist, letting it sit in any of the MicroVerse mini-vehicles or playset stations.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1997/Maximal/Orcanoch/orcanoch.htm More information on MicroVerse Tarantulas (via Orchanoch) at TFU.info]

{{-}}

===Beast Wars 10th Anniversary===
[[File:BWXtoy-Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|He's not here to help assemble Transmutate. That leg's his dinner.]]
*'''Predacon Tarantulus''' (Deluxe, 2006)
**''Accessories:'' Launcher, 4 spider-leg missiles

:This toy is a slight [[redeco]] of the original Tarantulas toy, more closely resembling Tarantulas's appearance in the cartoon (save the big Predacon faction sigil tampograph). Part of the second wave of [[Transformers: Beast Wars 10th Anniversary|''Beast Wars'' 10th Anniversary product]], he came with a DVD of the episode "[[Spider's Game]]," plus the left leg to [[Transmutate (character)|Trans-Mutate]].

:This release of Tarantulus has [[Misassembly|misassembled]] forearm/claws, which can be easily swapped to the correct position due to the [[ball joint]]ed elbows.
::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2006/Predacon/PredaconTarantulas/predacontarantulas.htm More information on 10th Anniversary Tarantulas at TFU.info]''

{{--}}

{{anchor|TimelinesToy}}
===Timelines===
[[File:Timelinestoy-TarantulasDOFP.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Everyone's second-favorite purple-and-yellow motorcycle two-Mini-Con-having servant of Unicron.]]
*'''Tarantulas''' (2015)
:Tarantulas is a redeco of ''[[Transformers United|United]]'' [[Scrapheap (G1)#United|Scrapheap]], itself a retool of ''[[Transformers (2010 toyline)|Transformers]]'' [[Wreck-Gar (G1)#Transformers (2010)|Wreck-Gar]] with a new head. He turns into a motorcycle. The toy is meant to represent his pre-''Beast Wars'' appearance. The toy also comes with two [[Arachnoid]]s that can be pegged into his left and right arms.

[[File:Timelinestoy-TarantulasDOFPslideshow.jpg|left|thumb|150px]]
:When first revealed at [[BotCon 2014]], the toy's color was different from the final release's appearance. The toy was lighter colored (including the Arachnoids!), his mouthplate was green, and his arms were entirely colored green, among many other differences.
{{2010Wreck-GarMold}}

{{-}}

===Combiner Wars===
{{anchor|DawnOfThePredacus}}
[[File:Timelines botcon tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|*Insert Spider-tank related caption here*]]
*'''Dawn of the Predacus''' ([[BotCon 2016]] box set)
**''Accessories'': Claw weapon, Combiner Foot/Hand

:A [[retool]] of ''[[Combiner Wars (toyline)|Combiner Wars]]'' [[Rook (Generations)#Generations|Rook]], "Predacon Tarantulas" features a new spider-esque head. As a ''Combiner Wars'' Deluxe limb he is able to combine with any Voyager Class toys released as part of the same subline but is, of course, intended to be combined with Sea Clamp, Cicadacon, Ramhorn, and Ravage to create [[Predacus]].

:Rather than 5mm hands, Tarantulas has forward-facing 5mm ports in front of his fists. This allows him to mount his claw-like accessory as an integrated weapon or use ''Combiner Wars'' combiner hands (one of which is included) as giant "Hulk hands".

:He was available exclusively at [[BotCon 2016]] in the "Dawn of the Predacus" box set with [[Ravage (G1)/toys#BotCon2016|Ravage]], [[Ram Horn#Combiner Wars|General Ramhorn]], [[Cicadacon#Combiner Wars|General Cicadacon]], and [[Sea Clamp#Combiner Wars|General Sea Clamp]].
{{CWRookMold}}
{{--}}

==Merchandise==
[[File:Tarantulasmutatingcard.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67]]
*'''Beast Wars Transformers Mutating Card Game''' (1997)
:Tarantulas was one of the 24 beast warriors to receive a battle card representation for the Beast Wars [[Beast Wars Transformers Mutating Card Game|card game]].
{{-}}
===Robot Heroes===
[[File:Robotheroestarantulasprimal.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|Don't take your eyes off your mech fluid, Primal.]]
*'''Optimus Primal vs Predacon Tarantulas''' (2008)

: Part of the second wave of ''[[Transformers: Universe (2008 toyline)|Universe]]'' ''[[Robot Heroes (toyline)|Robot Heroes]]'', this PVC figurine of Tarantulas' original body has articulation in the shoulders and neck. He was available only in a "Beast Wars Series" two-pack with [[Optimus Primal/toys|Optimus Primal]] (amusingly enough, the [[Maximal]] he also came with in the ''[[MicroVerse]]'' [[Orcanoch]] playset).

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2008/Predacon/RHTarantulas/tarantulas.htm More information on Robot Heroes Tarantulas at TFU.info]''

{{--}}

==Notes==
[[File:BWcommercial-Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|Not terribly appealing.]]
*Tarantulas is referred to as simply "Tarantula" in the [[commercial]] advertising his toy. This commercial and also early promotional pictures showed the original Tarantulas toy as being transparent orange, but the final toy was a clear deep purple instead. Presumably, this was for a little visual variety in the early line, which already had a largely tan toy ([[Dinobot (BW)|Dinobot]]) and a largely yellow toy ([[Cheetor (BW)/toys|Cheetor]]) in the Deluxe range, plus a Mega-sized Predacon arachnid then planned to be orange ([[Scorponok (BW)|Scorponok]]), and [[Tigatron]], who was at one point slated to be a traditional orange tiger.
[[File:TarantulasArm.jpg|upright=0.85|thumb|He tastes everything he holds.]]
*In the original control art for Tarantulas, the claws are shown in the same configuration as used in the show. In other words, the claws were somehow swapped during the assembly process and have remained as such on every version of the mold thereafter.
*The original Tarantulas toy has ''nine'' eyes in [[beast mode]], as does the show model. This makes characters' references to him as "eight-eyes" rather... interesting.
*Tarantulas's toy bios paint him as a really dumb ninja-like stealth assassin. Both of his [[Tech Spec]]s give him an intelligence of 4, even the numbers that accompany his ''Transmetals'' bio which mentions the cartoon's [[quantum surge]].
*In the first season, Tarantulas is characterized more as a cannibalistic, psychotic gourmand who happens to be the Predacons' Science Officer than as the mad scientist and master plotter he becomes from "[[Spider's Game]]" onwards. This is to the extent that his official season one profile makes several mentions of his eating habits, describes his sole interest as being "food", and summarizes his relationship with the other Predacons as simple disdain, as he considers them to all be potential meals.
*In the Japanese dub of ''Beast Wars'', Tarantulas retained his trademark cackle, but it was a little ''different''. His voice was very high-pitched and he shrieked almost constantly. His trademark laugh more closely resembled a wicked witch of sorts.
[[File:OptimalSituation Tarantulas insignia.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Tarantulas is one of Reprolabels's best customers.]]
*From "[[Optimal Situation]]" onwards, the [[Arachnoid]]s sport a Tarantulas-themed insignia.
[[File:TMtigatronboxback2.jpg|thumb|Pew! Pew!]]
*Tarantulas's origins are a bit complicated. He declares in "[[Other Victories]]" that he and the [[Tripredacus Council]] have origins other than Autobot and Decepticon, such that they would not be affected by the destruction of the Ark. Megatron's line about "Unicron's spawn" was apparently not intended by [[Bob Forward]] to be taken literally but as a generic Transformer insult; [[Larry DiTillio]] has said Bob "regrets" the line and they never had ''any'' fixed idea of Tarantulas' origin. Larry also said that had the show continued, the characters "might" be descended from the [[Cybertronian (faction)|Cybertronians]].<ref>[http://groups.google.com/group/alt.toys.transformers/msg/f06828ec523295c1?dmode=source&output=gplain Larry DiTillio's take on Tarantulas origins! at alt.toys.transformers]</ref> A Unicronian origin also creates potential canonical issues, as Tarantulas says that "under our rule, Cybertron will conquer the universe" ("[[Other Victories]]"), whereas Unicron's goal would have been to eat Cybertron. But, much like [[Terrorsaur (BW)|Terrorsaur]]'s line about "[[Darksyde (BW)|the dark side]]", this line developed a life of its own. Eventually this connection was reasserted in [[3H Productions]]' ''[[Primeval Dawn]]'' storyline, initially written by... Bob Forward. On the other hand, [[Fun Publications]]' "[[A Common Foe]]" depicted a [[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]]/Cybertronian origin for Tarantulas and the Tripredacus Council but left the specifics a mystery.
*Tarantulas's body in "[[Theft of the Golden Disk]]" is based on [[Ransack (Cybertron)|''Cybertron'' Ransack]]. His body in "[[Dawn of Future's Past]]", however, is a unique design not directly based on an existing toy, unlike the rest of the show characters in the story.
*Tarantulas is probably the only [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] [[Minion of Unicron]] who avoided being labeled a [[Decepticon]].
*From what can be observed from art on the back of Transmetal Tigatron's packaging, Tarantulas's vok-enhanced abilities include levitating and firing energy beams from his eye(s?) in [[robot mode]]. Neat!

===Foreign names===
*''Japanese:'' '''Tarans''' (タランス ''Taransu''), '''Tarantulas''' (タランチュラス ''Taranchurasu'')
*''Italian:'' '''Metal Tarantulas''' (Transmetal toy)
*''Korean:'' '''Tarantulas''' (타란튤라스 ''Talantyullaseu'')
*''Mandarin:'' '''Chīh-chū''' (Taiwan, 蜘蛛, "Spider"), '''Hóng Chīh-chū''' (Taiwan second and third season, 紅蜘蛛, "Red Spider"), '''Láng Zhū''' (China, 狼蛛, "Tarantula")
*''Polish:'' '''Tarantulator'''
*''Portuguese:'' '''Tarântulos''' (Brazil)

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Beast Wars Predacons]]
[[Category:Beast Wars 10th Anniversary]]
[[Category:Beast Wars: Uprising Predacons]]
[[Category:Cloud Predacons]]
[[Category:Combiner Wars]]
[[Category:Combiners]]
[[Category:Double agents]]
[[Category:Generation 1 Decepticons]]
[[Category:IDW Generation 1 Transformers]]
[[Category:Law enforcement]]
[[Category:Legends Predacons]]
[[Category:Minions of Unicron]]
[[Category:Ninjas]]
[[Category:Robot Heroes]]
[[Category:Scientists]]
[[Category:Timelines characters]]
[[Category:Toys "R" Us exclusives]]
[[Category:Transformers with three modes]]
[[Category:Transmetals]]
[[Category:Unicron-related characters]]
[[Category:Universe Predacons]]
[[Category:Universe (2008)]]
[[Category:Wings Universe Predacons]]

Tarantulas (BW)

2017-04-26T00:19:21Z

7Crimsonified7: /* Beast Wars: Uprising */

{{factions|predacon|unicron|decepticon}}
{{disambig3|Tarantulas}}
{{featured}}
:''Tarantulas is a [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] from the [[Beast Wars: Transformers (franchise)|Beast Wars]] portion of the [[Generation 1 continuity family|Generation 1]] [[continuity family]].''

[[File:Tarantulasbw.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|[[BotCon 2000|"And fries! Lots of FRIES!"]]]]
'''Tarantulas''' is the scheming mad scientist of the Predacon crew. He's the type of mad scientist who experiments on living beings, cackling in his [[trademark]]ed laugh all the while, and then if things go wrong, happily eats what's left as his midday snack. The eating is what he was really looking forward to, anyway. It's this focused perversity that turns off even his fellow Predacons. Tarantulas's emotional detachment from their war also rubs his peers the wrong way. Fighting Maximals and following orders is just a required chore; his real passion is the unmentionable projects stashed in [[Tarantulas's lair|his "secret" lair]].

Nominally, Tarantulas was one of the Predacons to join [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] during his theft of the [[Golden Disk (Voyager)|Golden Disk]] and the search for [[Earth]]. In addition to being an utterly psychotic, sadistic sociopath, he has a record for treachery rivaled by few other Transformers. He is actually an [[Predacon Secret Police|agent]] of the [[Tripredacus Council]], which is trying to coax the Beast Wars toward an unspecified goal, where neither Autobot or Decepticon won the [[Great War (G1)|Great War]]. Who knows what other [[Unicron|dark secrets]] lie in his past.

If anything upsets Tarantulas, other than losing a potential meal, it's those pompous aliens who call themselves the [[Vok]]. He harbors a hatred for them strong enough to make him work to eliminate them by any means.

In some universes he can combine with the Tripredacus Council and [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] to form [[Predacus]].

Sometimes he is previously known as '''Mesothulas''' and sometimes his name is spelled as '''Tarantulus'''.

{{bigquote|You're ''insane.''|[[Tigerhawk]]}}
{{bigquote|So they ''saa''-aay! Wbrrwbrrbbppth!|Tarantulas|"[[Other Victories]]"}}

==Fiction==
===Toy bios===
[[File:PrimalVSMegs-Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Why Megatron, I do believe you're trying to seduce m— oh, hey, [[Razorbeast]].]]
Tarantulas was a sneaky, mysterious ninja feared across the galaxy. A master of the martial arts, he was suspected in the disappearances of many [[Human|Earthlings]], and rumors swirled of giant cocoons where he stored his prey. {{storylink|#Toys|Tarantulas bio}}

Tarantulas was guarding the Predacons' jungle-based genetics lab along with Megatron and Waspinator. When the Maximals discovered them, he engaged [[Razorbeast]] in combat briefly before Megatron called retreat and destroyed the lab. {{storylink|Optimus Primal vs Megatron!}}

After the [[quantum surge]], Tarantulas became a [[Transmetal]], with the accompanying vehicle mode to match. With his new set of wheels, Tarantulas didn't have to rely on stealth and deceit as much, instead speeding head-first into battle and using his new mechanical beast mode to overpower his enemies. {{storylink|#Transmetal|Transmetal Tarantulas bio}}
{{-}}

===Cartoon continuity===
====''Beast Wars'' cartoon====
{{voiceactor|[[Alec Willows]] (English), [[Scott McNeil]] (English, portions of "[[Other Voices, Part 2]]" only), [[Yūichi Nagashima]] (Japanese)|[[Alexandr Novikov]] (Russian, 1st dub), [[Hervé Joly]] (French), [[Lutz Harder]] (German), [[Riccardo Peroni]] (Italian), [[Junseok Song]] (Korean), [[Humberto Vélez]] (Latin American Spanish), [[Fábio Vilalonga]] (Portuguese)}}

Lieutenant Tarantulas of the [[Predacon Secret Police]] was one of [[Megatron (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Megatron]]'s original crew, a mole inside his organization feeding information back to the [[Tripredacus Council]] without his knowledge. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part 2)}} More than that, he was a ''direct'' agent of the Council and shared their origins, with an overall agenda to alter the timeline by going back to prehistoric Earth and completely destroying the [[Ark (G1)|''Ark'' and the Transformers within]]. {{storylink|Other Victories}} The plan went tits up though, as Megatron's ''Darksyde'' warship ended up crashing on an unidentified planet and contact with Cybertron was lost.{{storylink|Beast Wars (Part 1)}} Tarantulas carried on as normal despite this setback. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part 2)}}

[[File:TheWeb Tarantulas beast mode.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|Not arachnophobic, eh? I can fix that.]]
As Megatron's technical leader, he manned the scanners to appropriate beast forms based on the most powerful local creatures, choosing the form of an over-sized spider for himself. He cheerfully took part in the first battle of the [[Beast Wars (event)|Beast Wars]], only to succumb to energon buildup while the Maximals were escaping. {{storylink|Beast Wars (Part 1)}} The Predacons uncovered a stash of energon crystals atop a mountain, but were forced to fight in their [[beast mode]]s. Tarantulas and [[Rattrap (BW)|Rattrap]] fought in this manner until Megatron triggered a chain reaction which caused the energon to explode. {{storylink|Beast Wars (Part 2)}}

[[File:ChainofCommand Tarantulas firing.jpg|thumb|upright=1.34|Sure, he's fast on the draw, but he ALWAYS shoots himself in the foot.]]
It wasn't long before Tarantulas had set up his own [[Tarantulas's lair|underground lair]] to keep his experiments away from Megatron's prying eyes. After helping [[Scorponok (BW)|Scorponok]] recover a mega-cannon, Tarantulas managed to capture [[Cheetor (BW)|Cheetor]], trapping the young Maximal in a web in his lair with the intent of feeding later. Rattrap mounted a rescue, during which the cavern caved in on Tarantulas {{storylink|The Web}} Tarantulas was blasted by Rattrap during the battle at the [[Standing Stones]], and later accompanied Megatron and [[Terrorsaur (BW)|Terrorsaur]] to attack the ''Axalon'' after it appeared that [[Optimus Primal/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Optimus Primal]] had perished. After the Maximals got the ship's shields back up, he suggested to Megatron that they return to the Standing Stones. Unfortunately once there, the Maximals managed to retrieve Primal from the [[Vok probe|alien probe]] at the site, and Tarantulas was one of the first victims of the restored Maximal commander. {{storylink|Chain of Command (BW)|Chain of Command}}

Terrorsaur, his power boosted, defeated Megatron in combat before leaving Tarantulas in charge of the other Predacons. Tarantulas promptly tailed Terrorsaur to find out what his new power source was, and discovered it was a [[flying mountain]] topped with a cache of super energon. Before he could do anything with the knowledge, he encountered Rattrap, who'd come to destroy the mountain. Their fight ended with Tarantulas falling from the side of the mountain. {{storylink|Power Surge (episode)|Power Surge}} He subsequently took part in an attack on the Maximal base after a [[stasis pod]] crashed. While Megatron kept [[Dinobot (BW)|Dinobot]] distracted, Tarantulas and Scorponok ambushed the Maximal from behind. Unfortunately for them, Dinobot had time to activate the base defenses, and Tarantulas was blasted into the distance by the auto-guns. {{storylink|Fallen Comrades}}

When the Predacons finally captured a stasis pod, Tarantulas made sure that the [[protoform]] was given a spider beast mode, creating [[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]]. Megatron suspected he had ulterior motives, but was nonetheless pleased by the new soldier. Tarantulas seemed happy to follow Terrorsaur when the Predacon mounted another takeover attempt with the aid of Rattrap, but spent most of his time skulking around the ''Darksyde'' in search of rats to eat. He spotted Rattrap sneaking around, but the Maximal blasted him before he could do anything. He subsequently limped back to the others to find that Megatron had reasserted his leadership. {{storylink|Double Jeopardy}} After one of Scorponok's viruses turned Primal into a berserker, the Maximal leader broke into the Predacon base and, completely ignoring Tarantulas's attempts to stop him, pinned the spider to a wall using Tarantulas's own weapon. {{storylink|Gorilla Warfare}}

[[File:Tflocklens&tarantulas.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1|"Behold my latest invention... THE DISCO BALL VERSION 2.0!"]]
One of Tarantulas's many inventions, the [[transformation lock lens]], was instrumental in preventing the Maximals from contacting a [[temporal probe]] doing a flyby of the planet. He used it to ensnare [[Tigatron]] and Cheetor, then wreaked havoc with the Maximals' attempts to build a communications array, before he was finally defeated by Primal. Although his new toy was destroyed by the recovered Cheetor and Tigatron, the damage was already done, and the probe flew by uncontacted. {{storylink|The Probe}} After the Predacons discovered a Maximal spy camera in their base, they faked a mutiny and hid in a crevice. Tarantulas spent his nights being hugged like a stuffed toy by [[Waspinator (BW)|Waspinator]], and his days eating stray rats. While the Maximals repaired the ''Axalon'', the Predacons were discovered by Dinobot, and gave chase. Though they attacked the Maximal ship in an attempt to capture it, the affair ended with the ''Axalon'' crashing back to the ground. {{storylink|Victory (episode)|Victory}} After a Maximal victory, largely due to the efforts of Rhinox, Tarantulas captured the rhino in a web on Megatron's orders, so that he could be converted into a Predacon by the [[Transmuter (BW)|Transmuter]]. In return, the new Predacon poisoned him and Blackarachnia. {{storylink|Dark Designs}}

[[File:Spider'sGame Taratulas hauling stasis pod.jpg|thumb|upright=1.45|Ever the engineer, Tarantulas invents the low-tech equivalent of a tow truck.]]
Tarantulas detected another stasis pod landing in [[Grid Scavos]], but Megatron refused to let him go and assist in the recovery, much to his disgust. {{storylink|The Spark}} The next time a stasis pod crashed, Tarantulas was more prepared. From his lair, he used a [[magna pulse]] to disable both the ''Darksyde'' and ''Axalon'' to allow him to investigate without interference. Unfortunately for him, Blackarachnia had found his lair, and insisted on coming along to help. At the pod, Tarantulas reprogrammed the new arrival into a Predacon, but was disappointed that a beast mode had already been chosen, and [[Inferno (BW)|Inferno]] would not be another spider. In the confusion that followed, he made off with the real prize — the stasis pod itself. Unfortunately for him, Tigatron destroyed the pod before he could get very far, and he was forced to retreat when Megatron arrived. Later, in his lair, he inadvertently told Blackarachnia that the planet was doomed, and she realized he was intending to build an escape ship, however he threw her out before she could work out any more of his plans. {{storylink|Spider's Game}}

Tarantulas took part in a diversionary attack while Waspinator and Terrorsaur stole the Maximals' [[rectifier coil]]. After the Maximals went feral, the Predacons mounted a hunting expedition, though Tarantulas was stuck supporting the back end of Megatron's chair. {{storylink|Call of the Wild}} On another occasion, Tarantulas detected what appeared to be walking energon. Megatron realized that an earlier battle had left four of the Maximals contaminated and blinded, and ordered Tarantulas to send Terrorsaur to investigate. {{storylink|Dark Voyage}} After Waspinator was possessed by the ghost of [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]], Tarantulas took part in the attack on the ''Axalon'', and pointed out once they'd conquered it that their own base was now undefended. Megatron's answer was to leave Starscream in charge of the ''Axalon'', a decision which would come back to bite him later. {{storylink|Possession}}

[[File:Dinobottarantulasrattrapthelowroad.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.34|"See? I told you I was taller than Tarantulas."]]
During an attack on the Maximal base, Tarantulas was able to infect Rhinox with an [[energon discharge virus]], though he himself was injured by Dinobot during the retreat. He was tracked by Dinobot and Rattrap, but eventually turned the tables by getting the drop on them, only to be flattened by a huge boulder. After recovering, he took advantage of their incessant arguing by trying to get the drop on them again, only to be knocked unconscious by a double punch. Finally, Dinobot attempted to use Tarantulas's body as a hostage, only for Megatron to blast it aside. Perhaps his only consolation was that he avoided the indignity of the fate that befell the rest of the Predacons. {{storylink|The Low Road}}

With the return of the [[Vok|aliens]] a certainty, Tarantulas stole a [[transwarp cell]] from the ''Darksyde'', slagging Waspinator in the process. Megatron detected the theft and used Blackarachnia as a distraction while he remotely inserted his own programming into the cell. The two spiders later took part in an attempt to prevent Tigatron from escaping the Predacon base, and were squished by a boulder Dinobot had set up. They were relatively uninjured and able to haul their damaged comrades back to the ship. {{storylink|Before the Storm}} The two spiders teamed up again, infiltrating the Maximal base and disabling Rhinox and Dinobot while the other Maximals were busy with the latest alien construct to appear. They became aware that the planet's second moon had just been revealed as an artificial, alien ''doomsday weapon'' in disguise, with Tarantulas remarking it was "the beginning of the end" for the planet. {{storylink|Other Voices, Part 1}} In the cargo hold, Tarantulas used the transwarp cell and a stasis pod to construct a ship, but was interrupted by Inferno, who torched the spider. Fortunately, Blackarachnia entered Tarantulas's mind to obtain the information to complete the escape ship, and he was able to set up a permanent neural link between the two Predacons. {{storylink|Other Voices, Part 2}}

[[File:ComingFuzors1 Tarantulas lives.jpg|thumb|upright=1.55|A new look, and he didn't even have to [[Spider-Man|sell out]] to [[Iron Man|Tony Stark]] for it!]]
When the [[quantum surge]] caused by the "second moon's" destruction knocked out all of the Transformers on the planet, Tarantulas's body was upgraded to a [[Transmetal]] form, and he forced Blackarachnia to drag it from the Maximal base, even getting her to ignore Megatron's command to stay and fight the Maximals. {{storylink|Aftermath}} With Blackarachnia's hard work and some serious-looking electrical arc generators, Tarantulas was restored to life. Megatron soon called him to the battlefield, so he left Blackarachnia to root around in their leader's computer files: by this point, the loss of the "moon" and the damages to the planet had revealed it to be ''prehistoric Earth'' all along... {{storylink|Coming of the Fuzors (Part 1)}}

Using his new cycle mode, Tarantulas quickly reached the Maximals' position. During the fight, he kept in contact with her, until a shot by Dinobot put him temporarily out of commission. After he came around, Blackarachnia reported that she'd failed to get the data he needed. The Predacons were soon routed by the resurrection of Optimus Primal, and forced to return to base. There, Megatron and Tarantulas questioned Blackarachnia, only to be told the vital data had been lost. Neither of them believed her, but didn't call her out. {{storylink|Coming of the Fuzors (Part 2)}}

With his old lair destroyed by the Planet Buster, Tarantulas was fortuitous in that Megatron assigned him with Blackarachnia and [[Quickstrike (BW)|Quickstrike]] to check out a cave filled with energon. He quickly surmised that it would make an excellent new lair, and attempted to get his two comrades interested in going it alone. Blackarachnia was more interested in getting rid of the neural link the two of them shared, and cracked an energon crystal, sending feedback through the link, to force him to sever it. By a fortunate coincidence, the three Predacons were soon attacked by [[Silverbolt (BW)|Silverbolt]] and Rattrap, and during the battle Tarantulas was able to convincingly fake the destruction of the cave, allowing him to utilize it as his own lair. {{storylink|Tangled Web}} When Dinobot defected to the Predacon side, Tarantulas offered to verify his programming, but Megatron decided it wouldn't be a very good idea to let Tarantulas into Dinobot's processor. {{storylink|Maximal, No More}}

[[File:OtherVisits1 Tarantulas beast mode.jpg|left|upright=1.2|thumb|Downside: everything tastes like feet now.]]
Back in his lair, Tarantulas's instruments detected the aliens again, and he rushed off to the site. He arrived shortly after Tigatron and [[Airazor (BW)|Airazor]] had been abducted, and zapped Cheetor, but was forced to retreat when more Maximals arrived. He visited Megatron, claiming to no longer be under the tyrant's command, but willing to help. The Predacons returned to the alien site to set up equipment, during which Blackarachnia revealed that she had learned through the broken neural link that Tarantulas hated the aliens. {{storylink|Other Visits (Part 1)}} Megatron, Quickstrike, and Tarantulas recovered quickly from the energy wave put out by the new [[Metal Hunter|alien construct]], and after Tarantulas's [[refractive web]] was activated, the trio ventured inside. Once Megatron had control of the construct, he terminated his alliance with Tarantulas, dropping the Predacon from a great height. Infuriated, Tarantulas helped the Maximals attack the construct, infiltrating it along with Rattrap, and sabotaging the transwarp cells which Megatron installed, causing the ship to explode. {{storylink|Other Visits (Part 2)}}

Though a bug planted on Megatron's chair, Tarantulas learned that Blackarachnia had been sent to recover a new protoform, and took the opportunity to threaten her to try and extract the information he suspected she'd gained from Megatron's computers. Unfortunately for him, Silverbolt stepped in and defended Blackarachnia, shortly before an energon explosion separated everyone. Though Tarantulas found the stasis pod, [[Rampage (BW)|its contents]] found him, and his body parts were spread liberally over a wide area. {{storylink|Bad Spark}} Dinobot later tracked down Tarantulas in an attempt to find out what Megatron's latest scheme was. Though Tarantulas didn't know, Dinobot forced him to act as transport, and they soon found Megatron preparing to torch a valley fill of [[Protohuman]]s. Tarantulas took advantage of Dinobot's distraction to shoot the Maximal, only for Dinobot to drop a boulder on him. {{storylink|Code of Hero}}

[[File:Agenda3 Tarantulas button push.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Tarantulas presses the History Eraser Button.]]
Alerted by the [[transwarp wavefront]], the Tripredacus Council sent covert agent [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] to capture Megatron. The former Decepticon led the Maximals to apprehend Megatron, and Tarantulas assisted by taking down the ''Darksyde''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> defense system. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part 1)}} Megatron, much to his indignation, was later informed by Ravage that the spider was a lieutenant in the Predacon Secret Police; Tarantulas joined in the diss by laughing over a comm-screen at his former boss. Tarantulas was able to instruct the Maximals in the location of a stash of energon crystals that Megatron had hidden. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part 2)}} When Ravage was persuaded to change sides by the Predacon leader, Tarantulas appeared to come too, manning the [[transwarp cruiser]]'s weapons systems for an attack on the ''Axalon''. Alas, Rattrap chewed his way into the ship and tossed a couple of [[Fusion weaponry#Fusion grenade|bomb]]s at Tarantulas, which stuck to his hands before exploding. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part III)}}

Tarantulas survived, though, and was quickly put back together by his [[arachnoid]]s. He was repaired in time to witness the destruction of the ''Axalon''. {{storylink|Optimal Situation}} He was soon seen back at the Predacon base, working under Megatron's command once again with no mention of his former secession. {{storylink|Cutting Edge}} However, around this time he was also working on another scheme: restoring the ''[[Nemesis (G1)|Nemesis]]'', the flagship of the [[Decepticon]] fleet! At some point, he'd found it lying at the bottom of the ocean, and was ensuring it would not only fly again but had a Predacon control console and a transwarp cell that could take it back to Cybertron... {{storylink|Nemesis Part 1}}

He battled the Maximals alongside Megatron's [[cyber raptor]]s, taking the opportunity to try out his new Transmetal [[cyber venom]] to great success, though he was stomped on by a cyber raptor once the Maximals worked out how to destroy their controls. {{storylink|Cutting Edge}} He assisted in the construction of Megatron's [[disruptor cannon]], suggesting that they abduct an early human to complete the device when the other Predacons were unable to get too close to it due to the unstable power source. While the cannon was completed by [[Una]], she managed to use her knowledge of levers to tip a piece of heavy equipment on him. Though he survived that, Una had taken the cannon's stablizer crystal, and it exploded in the Predacons' faces when they tried to use it. {{storylink|Go with the Flow}}

[[File:CrossingRubicon Tarantulas fires on Silverbolt.jpg|thumb|left|260px]]
When the Maximals attempted to remove Blackarachnia's shell program, he revealed to Megatron that he had included "certain safeguards" that guaranteed she would not survive, and joined the other Predacons in an attack on the Maximals that was meant to disrupt the attempted shell removal. He fired the missile which knocked the Maximals' power off-line at a crucial instant, seemingly bringing an end to his "treacherous creation". Enraged by the death of his beloved, [[Silverbolt (BW)|Silverbolt]] attempted to kill the scientist, but was thwarted by [[Rampage (BW)|Rampage]], who was later defeated by a revived—and [[Transmetal]]ized—Blackarachnia. {{storylink|Crossing the Rubicon}}

Tarantulas participated in the Predacons' next attempt to retake the [[Ark (G1)|Ark]], utilising his latest invention to allow Quickstrike to take control of Optimus Primal... and ''that'' was when he made his move, at last. He manipulated [[Quickstrike (BW)|Quickstrike]] into throwing Megatron into the nearby lava while he himself set the Ark's engines to overload. Megatron survived his lava-dunking, gaining a new body in the process. However, he had lost his patience. While he'd tolerated Tarantulas's treachery, he could not tolerate incompetence. Tarantulas survived his punishment and fled back to his lair. {{storylink|Master Blaster}} This appears to have ''not'' been what Quickstrike thought he was going to do, and neither he nor Megatron had any idea why he'd planned to destroy the whole Ark.

[[File:TarantulasVok SignOfTheCross.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|"Save me, X-Men!"]]
Tarantulas was left ranting in his lair about how the Tripredacus Council's plans were wrecked, while his systems monitored the ''Nemesis'' (which was finished by this point). However, his rant and Nemesis plans were interrupted when the aliens—now revealed to be called the [[Vok]]—sent their emissary [[Tigerhawk]] arrived on Earth. Tarantulas let him take out the Predacons, then used his arachnoids to disable and capture him. Tarantulas intended to force the all-powerful being into his servitude by drawing the Vok influences out of his body and reprogramming him, and then have him obliterate the Ark: he cheerfully told the emissary that as he nor the Council had Autobot or Decepticon origins, they'd survive the resulting timestorm, turn Cybertron into a universe-conquering force, and one day even conquer the Vok themselves!

The scheme backfired, however, as his energy beam device expelled two ''actual Vok'' out of Tigerhawk. The formless spectres attempted to take over Tarantulas' body. Panicking, he made a religious sign to ward them off and then opened fire on them—a futile gesture that merely served to spin the energy device around 'til its rays were blasting him and his lab equipment. Overloaded by the beams, Tarantulas exploded, leaving nothing behind but his boots. The remainder of his equipment detonated seconds later, blowing the lair to rubble. Cheetor managed to rescue the inert Tigerhawk, and Tarantulas was presumed destroyed. {{storylink|Other Victories}}

Megatron knew that Tarantulas must have had some schemes on the go that the Predacons could pick up and use, and had his men search the ruins of the spider's lair. During this, he offhandedly referred to him as "[[Unicron's Spawn]]". He ended up discovering and using the working ''Nemesis''. {{storylink|Nemesis Part 1}}
{{-}}

====Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity====
=====Yokohama Decepticon Secret Base=====
[[File:Yokohama Unicron Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|100px]]
As part of a plot to destroy the [[2014]] [[Transformers Expo]] in [[Yokohama]] and the Cybertronian artifacts within, Taratulas, working on [[Unicron]]'s behalf, secretly granted [[Predacon computer|NAVI-ko]] a new body and intelligence regarding [[Yokohama Convoy|Nemesis Prime]]. True to plan, NAVI-ko was sent to activate the clone and guide him to the Transformers Expo. However, thanks to Nemesis Prime's inherent sense of justice, the plan failed. {{storylink|Yokohama Decepticon Secret Base}}

=====''Cloud''=====
{{charstubfiction|{{storylink|Wild (Cloud)|Wild}} {{storylink|TFC-A03}}}}

=====''Beast Wars Diorama Story''=====
[[File:BWDiorama Motorarm Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|left|A ravenous, sinister fiend... and Tarantulas.]]
Sometime after Starscream's arrival to prehistoric Earth, Tarantulas was confronted in battle by a time-displaced [[Motorarm (BWII)|Motorarm]], who fended off the Predacon with his Beetle Claw attack. Tarantulas was not present when the Autobots from [[Movie (franchise)|another universe]] and Maximals combined all of their energies to attack a team of Predacons and Decepticons. {{storylink|Motorarm Chapter}}
{{-}}

====3H comics====
Tarantulas was the inventor of the [[mind-drill]]. [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] "borrowed" it from him to get information out of [[Antagony (BW)|Antagony]]. {{storylink|Herald, Covenant, Schism, Paradox|Herald}}

[[File:Primevaldawn2 tarantulas matrix.jpg|thumb|Further proving the maxim: "If you want to steal the Matrix, you basically can."]]
Following the Beast Wars, Tarantulas's body returned to life, reanimated by the Vok powers he'd previously absorbed. The undead Tarantulas, along with a rebuilt Ravage (as [[Ravage (G1)|Tripredacus Agent]]), nurtured new troops to life through enigmatic means, growing [[Razorclaw (BW)|Razorclaw]] and [[Iguanus (BW)|Iguanus]] in tubes. {{storylink|Primeval Dawn Part 1}} {{storylink|Primeval Dawn II}}

The remaining Vok anticipated Tarantulas's plan to destroy the rest of them, take their power, and fashion the timestream to his desires, and so they assembled an army of their own consisting of [[Primal Prime]], [[Airazor (BW)|Airazor]], and [[Tigatron]]. Tarantulas met this opposition in battle, overwhelmed them, and triumphantly ripped the [[Matrix of Leadership]] from Primal Prime's chest. {{storylink|Primeval Dawn Part 2}}

Wounded critically, the Maximals withdrew to the Ark, while Tarantulas and his Predacons returned to his lair, where he directed them in the construction of a transwarp portal. Upon completion, Tarantulas planned to bring his stolen prize to his master, Unicron. Since his troops were getting restless, he promised them they could assault the Ark once they finished construction. Tarantulas was true to his word, and as Ravage led the Predacons against the Maximals, Unicron's spawn tried to stabilize the portal and prepared the Matrix for transport. {{storylink|Primeval Dawn Part 3}}

{{note|[[3H Productions]] dissolved before this storyline could be completed. Based on the subsequent ''Wreckers'' and ''[[Transformers: Universe (comic)|Universe]]'' storylines, it can be assumed that the Matrix of Leadership was restored to Optimus Prime's body at the end of this altercation, the Maximals were triumphant and used Tarantulas's portal to return home to Cybertron, and that Tarantulas somehow fled to Unicron.}}

After using the [[Divine Light]] to access [[Primus]]'s power, [[Cryotek (Universe)|Cryotek]] reanimated several [[Sharkticon (G1)|Sharkticon]] corpses into facsimiles of [[Megatron (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Megatron]]'s old subordinates, including one of Tarantulas. {{storylink|Wreckers: Finale Part II}}

[[File:Escape-Tarantulas.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|Tarantulus {{sic}} basically just never dies.]]

A year after the [[Great Reformatting]], the [[Unicron virus|influence]] of [[Unicron]] swayed an abducted [[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]] to the side of darkness. As she was escorted by [[Tankor (BM)|Tankor]] and [[Reptilion]] into the heart of the Chaos Bringer, she was surprised to see Tarantulas (still in his undead body) greet her as she joined the ranks of the [[Minion of Unicron|Minions of Unicron]]. She hissed with disgust while Tarantulas noted that it was just like old times. {{storylink|Escape (Universe)|Escape}}

Tarantulas had learned that [[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]] had been assembling the [[Child of Primus|Children of Primus]] to counter Unicron's Minions, and so he sent Blackarachnia on a mission to [[Primax 797.18 Epsilon|her home Cybertron]] to sever the link between the Transformers and [[Primus]] by invading [[Vector Sigma]]'s chamber and destroying Alpha Trion. He gave Blackarachnia a swarm of [[Piranacon (Universe)|Piranacon]]s and directions to the chamber through a structural weak point near the [[Rust Sea]]. {{storylink|Homecoming (Universe)|Homecoming}}
{{-}}

====''Transformers Legends'' anthology====
The [[Megatron (G1)|original Megatron]], now inside the mind of [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] after the latter planted the former's spark inside his body, berated the Predacon leader's failures—in particular, being led astray time and again by such treacherous subordinates as Tarantulas. {{storylink|A Meeting of Minds}}

====IDW ''Beast Wars'' comics====
One account states that when Tarantulas was born at the [[Pit (facility)|Pit]], a glitch in the process granted him insight into the fact that an alien force was manipulating the Predacons for its ends. Thus, Tarantulas became obsessed with whatever this force was. {{storylink|Transformers: Beast Wars Sourcebook|Beast Wars Sourcebook #4}}

Another account stated that Tarantulas was one of the [[Tripredacus Council]]'s covert agents, working for them since before the Great Wars began to be recorded. As a key member of the council's schemes, Tarantulas helped develop the combiner technology that led to [[Predacus]]. {{storylink|#Combiner Wars|''Combiner Wars'' Tarantulas bio}}

Before his travels off-world, Tarantulas worked in tandem with the Tripredacus Council, who sought to unite Cybertron under a single, "purer" race. As the Great War drew to a close, Tarantulas received field intelligence reporting startling news: both [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]] and [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]] had died in a terrible confrontation between their forces. Though his masters weren't particularly moved by this turn of events, [[Megatron (BW)|a renegade]] within their army's ranks was. It became clear to the council that this upstart would resume the offensive against the enemy forces despite being ordered not to, and so Tarantulas was sent back out into the field to try and prevent any further complications from arising out of the situation.

While Tarantulas was away, the Council's secret base was discovered, and due to an [[Axalon (BW)|exploration vessel]] accidentally getting in its path, the transmatter bomb the Council had attempted to launch, to reformat all of Cybertron at once, was deflected from its proper course. Ram Horn, Cicadacon, Sea Clamp, and Ravage all met up with Tarantuals in the field, and confronted the gestalt [[Predaking (G1)|Predaking]], who was among the Decepticons causing dissension in their ranks. Tarantulas and his allies isolated him on the battlefield, and merged into their own gestalt form, [[Predacus]], to slay him.

Tarantulas next met with the upstart now calling himself "Megatron", and told him that the transmatter raining down on the planet was the result of a doomsday weapon of Galvatron's going off, triggered by the mad tyrant's death. He next informed Megatron that Predaking has comitted suicide out of shame for his involvement in Galvatron's plans. The Tripredacus Council had hoped these lies would be enough to dissuade Megatron from continuing hostilities, but this was not the case, and so moved on to plan B: sniping Megatron with a stun beam, and surrendering to the Autobots themselves.

For the "great risks" Tarantulas took towards the pursuit of peace, he was granted amnesty after the signing of the Pax Cybertronia. He had a hearty laugh at the expense of the Autobots' gullibility over this. {{storylink|Dawn of the Predacus}}

During his time on Earth, Tarantulas discovered the force he was obsessed with since birth was the [[Vok]]. {{storylink|Transformers: Beast Wars Sourcebook|Beast Wars Sourcebook #4}} He also programmed the Predacons' mobile fortress, the [[Arachnid]], utilizing his own personality programs to give it some form of sentience, accompanied by Tarantulas's own tendency for cruelty. {{storylink|Transformers: Beast Wars Sourcebook|Beast Wars Sourcebook #1}}

While [[Magmatron]] surveyed the timestream, he witnessed several key events during the Beast Wars. Among these was Tarantulas in his original "beast" body skulking in his lair. {{storylink|The Gathering issue 1|The Gathering #1}}

====SD BotCon====
Tarantulas joined Ravage at a bar to [[Dawn of the Predacus|laugh maniacally over drinks]], only for the pair to be approached by [[Beetle]] after their fourth outburst; the pair were being kicked out since everyone else was tired of their cackling. Thankfully, Tarantulas knew of a place where they could laugh to their hearts' content... a children's ball pit! {{storylink|SD SG#SDBC1|SD BotCon #1}}

====''Timelines''====
[[File:TheftOfGoldenDisk-Tarantulas.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.66|What y'wanna do? Wanna be hackers? Code crackers? Slackers? Wastin' time with all the chatroom yakkers? WHAT?]]
Tarantulas decoded the information on the [[Golden Disk (Voyager)|Golden Disk]] which had been freshly stolen by Megatron. He thought this was quite hilarious, but then, he thinks that about everything. {{storylink|Theft of the Golden Disk}}

[[File:Tarantulasdawn.jpg|thumb|See? A Planet X key in the corner of the pic. He's working for Unicron! Get him!]]
As [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] and his rogue band of Predacons escaped [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] in their stolen ship, the ''[[Darksyde (BW)|Darksyde]]'', Tarantulas was in charge of scanning the disk for a desired set of coordinates. While Megatron was not watching, he was in secret communication with [[Cicadacon|General Cicadacon]] of the [[Tripredacus Council]].

Using the decoded coordinates, the ''Darksyde'' opened a [[transwarp]] portal, which it and the [[Axalon (BW)|''Axalon'']] passed through. {{storylink|Dawn of Future's Past}}

Two weeks after [[Airazor (BW)|Airazor]] was reborn on [[Earth]], Tarantulas fought to defend an orbital weapon from the Maximals. The launching pad was destroyed by Airazor. {{storylink|The Razor's Edge}}
{{-}}

====''Wings Universe''====
[[File:Tarantulasemerges-ACommonFoe.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1]]
One of four mysterious protoforms found by [[Sky-Byte (RID)#Wings Universe|Sky-Byte]] in the laboratory of [[Jhiaxus (G2)#Wings Universe|Jhiaxus]] while trying to save his former collaborator's clones from the Autobots, {{storylink|A Common Foe}} Tarantulas and [[Tripredacus Council|the other three]] pledged allegiance to the Predacons in suspiciously quick time.<ref name="TFSS3bio">"Tarantulas is a being without a history. In his rush to remove Jhiaxus' clones from his laboratory before the Autobots discovered its location, Sky-Byte mistakenly extracted four stasis pods of unknown origin. The emergent robots immediately declared for the Predacon cause, some might say suspiciously quickly. Of the four robots, Tarantulas has since discovered an endless fascination with experimental science, especially seeking any opportunity for vivisection."</ref>

=====''Hot Shot's Bot Thoughts''=====
The Tarantulas of [[Primax 509.28 Epsilon]] was interviewed by [[Hot Shot (Armada)|Shotimus Prime]], who seemed determined to prove that Tarantulas was also [[Sideways (Armada)|Sideways]]. Annoyed by Shotimus's badgering, Tarantulas eventually resorted to pulling the Matrix out of Shotimus's chest, reverting him to Hot Shot, and then hitting him repeatedly with it. {{storylink|Hot Shot's Bot Thoughts}}

====Waspscream continuity====
In [[Primax 208.06 Zeta]], Tarantulas joined [[Waspinator (BW)|Waspscream]]'s successful coup against Megatron. Waspscream then convinced Tarantulas to decode Megatron's Golden Disk by promising to make Tarantulas his lieutenant upon returning to Cybertron and deposing the Tripredacus Council. Unfortunately en route, Megatron escaped, conquered Cybertron with a [[transformation virus]], and turned the bodies of Cybertron's populace into [[Vehicon (BM)|Vehicon]]s. Upon arrival, Waspscream's crewmembers who had [[transmetal]] forms managed to survive the virus and escape Megatron's clutches, eventually finding their way to the [[Oracle (BM)|Oracle]], who granted them [[technorganic]] forms. Waspscream's Predacons waged a valiant Spark War against the Vehicons, eventually achieving victory. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/08/16}}

===''Beast Wars Metals'' manga===
[[File:TarantulasMangaMouth01.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Tarantulas raises an army of mannequins to strike terror into his foes.]]

Following the [[Quantum surge]], Tarantulas was upgraded into a [[Transmetal]]. Scheming with [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] within their floating island base, [[Hindenburg]], Tarantulas developed a plan to revive the deceased [[Optimus Primal]] as a [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] slave. Recovering Primal's mindless, raging body, Tarantulas staged a strange voodoo ceremony (complete with boiling cauldron). As Megatron pricked his finger and prepared to use his mutated blood to turn Primal's rampaging body into his slave, the spark of Optimus Primal returned to it just in the nick of time. As Primal turned into a Transmetal, Tarantulas began to celebrate, convinced that his plan had worked out better than he had thought, unaware of what was really going on. In fact, he was ''so'' convinced that Primal was now a Predacon slave, that he ordered the monkey to give him a shoulder massage. Optimus Primal proceeded to knock Tarantulas's block off. {{storylink|Beast Wars Metals issue 1|Beast Wars Metals #1}}

Tarantulas pulled himself together and confronted Tigatron, only to be promptly sliced in half. {{storylink|Beast Wars Metals issue 2|Beast Wars Metals #2}}

Undeterred, he taped himself back together and planted an [[arachnoid]] in Tigatron which gave Tarantulas control of the Maximal samurai's mind and body. {{storylink|Beast Wars Metals issue 3|Beast Wars Metals #3}} Airazor linked her mind to Tigatron's in an attempt to free her beloved and while her body fought Tigatron, Airazor's consciousness fought Tarantulas and his virtual minions. Ultimately, with Blackarachnia's help, Tigatron's mind was freed, though Airazor died in the process, killed by the mind-controlled Tigatron. Optimus Primal arrived and promptly stomped Tarantulas to death and blew his body to pieces. {{storylink|Beast Wars Metals issue 4|Beast Wars Metals #4}}

Shortly afterward, the energies from sparks freed from an obliterated [[Rampage (BW)|Rampage]] brought Tarantulas back to life as a mindless zombie. He fought Optimus Primal but was destroyed for good by Primal's rocket-fists. {{storylink|Beast Wars Metals issue 5|Beast Wars Metals #5}}

===''Transformers Legends'' anthology===
When [[human]] archaeologists uncovered a cave filled with primitive language, [[Mini-Con]] [[Laserbeak (Armada)|Laserbeak]] translated it for them. The markings told of a time when the Maximals and Predacons crash-landed on prehistoric Earth, though the stranded Transformers were seen by the protohumans as gods. The "spider-god" and the "[[Waspinator (BW)|wasp-god]]," under instruction from their [[Megatron (BW)|leader]], enslaved the humans for the purposes of excavating "[[Energon|glowing rose crystals]]." Eventually, a "[[Silverbolt (BW)|wolf-god]]" came, and had a fierce battle with the spider, allowing the captive humans to flee. The spider was defeated by the wolf, and then buried underground in a cave-in. {{storylink|Fire in the Dark}}

====Ask Vector Prime====
In [[Aurex 1104.30-JH Zeta]], Tarantulas had his own agenda on prehistoric Earth. He deployed his [[Arachnoid]]s across the globe to search for traces of [[Super Energon]], accumulating a large cache of the powerful substance. Optimus Primal sacrificed himself to hijack Tarantulas's makeshift craft and destroy it in orbit, causing a [[Quantum surge|Super Energon Transwarp Explosion]] which granted a [[Transmetal]] upgrade to many participants in the conflict as well as created the [[Fuzor]]s. Later, Megatron attempted to use Tarantulas's secret experiments in a last-ditch effort to turn the tide, but ultimately, the Maximals emerged victorious in the war for the [[Mini-Con]]s. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/08/13}}

===''Transformers Legends'' comic===
Tarantulas sneakily browsed the toys for sale at [[Transformers Celebration 2014]]. {{storylink|Legends Bonus Vol.}} The head of [[Tera-Kura Co.]]'s science department and an expert at building robots, he he was responsible for production of their [[Nightbird (G1)|Nightbird]] clones. One day he was approached by the [[Decepticon]] [[Headmaster (technology)|Headmasters]] of [[OG World|another universe]], who offered him use of their technology in exchange for his help in building them new [[transtector]]s. Realizing he could use this tech to conquer the [[Legends Universe]] for himself, Tarantulas accepted. {{storylink|Headmasters Chapter Prologue}} Once a partnership between the Decepticons and Tera-Kura had been formed, he used data stolen from the [[Autobot]] Headmasters to build a body for [[Skullcruncher (G1)|Skullcruncher]] as well as the drone [[Batora]]. Seeking to eliminate the Autobots, his rivals on the technology market, he and [[Weirdwolf (G1)|Weirdwolf]] then sent out Skullcruncher to lure out and destroy them, but the Headmaster was defeated. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 22|Bonus Edition Vol. 22}} Tarantulas's boss, [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]], chewed them out over their violent approach, leading to a disgruntled Tarantulas building a body for Megatron that would turn him into the destructive [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]]. In the end, Megatron resisted the body and taught them a lesson, though Tarantulas pointed out that as he'd planned, Galvatron's destruction had increased Tera-Kura's sales. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 23|Bonus Edition Vol. 23}}

Not ones to give up, Tarantulas and Weirdwolf had [[Mindwipe (G1)|Mindwipe]] hypnotize Megatron back into Galvatron only for [[Blurr (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Blurr]] to undo the spell. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 25|Bonus Edition Vol. 25}} He was present at the office when [[Scourge (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Scourge]] attempted to take over Tera-Kura. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 26|Bonus Edition Vol. 26}} When a group of [[Nightbeat (G1)|mass-produced Headmasters]] from [[Axalon Trading Company|Autobot Axalon Trading Company]] started stealing Decepticon transtectors on the orders of [[Rewind (G1)|Rewind]], Tarantulas responded by activating the Galvatron body's mask, briefly brainwashing the unfortunate [[Rattrap (BW)|Rattrap]] into being evil. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 28|Bonus Edition Vol. 28}} Since his Megatron plan wasn't working out, Tarantulas chose to enter the Galvatron body and pilot it himself, using it to defeat Megatron and use his head mode as a soccer ball. Though he was defeated by [[Wheelie (G1)|Wheelie]] and [[Shūta Gō]], he was happy with the data he'd gathered about controlling a transtector. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 29|Bonus Edition Vol. 29}} He then finished a new transtector for Weirdwolf, shocking its owner by making it sentient (and revealing that Skullcruncher's had been so all along). {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 30|Bonus Edition Vol. 30}}

Tarantulas was initially gleeful when Tera-Kura purchased [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]], but quickly grew unsatisfied and wanted control of ''both'' Metroplex and Autobot Axalon's new base, [[Fortress Maximus (G1)|Maximus]]. He had Weirdwolf infiltrate Maximus and take it for Tera-Kura by using the [[Master Sword]], but the plan failed when Weirdwolf was unable to control the giant transtector's power. Using what he'd learned from piloting Galvatron, Tarantulas took things into his own hands by taking direct control of Metroplex and having him attack Maximus. The battle between Metroplex and Fortress Maximus ended with Fortress destroying Tarantulas's control device, and the scientist was arrested for his crimes. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 31|Bonus Edition Vol. 31}} He eventually broke out of jail and encountered [[Astrotrain (G1)|Astrotrain]], who agreed to hide him from the law in exchange for a transtector of his own. Tarantulas then found himself pressed to mass-produce these bodies for Astrotrain's master plan, and once he was done and expected to get along with his "fellow jailbird", Astrotrain promptly deemed him unnecessary and turned on him, sending him fleeing. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 40|Bonus Edition Vol. 40}} He next found refuge with Weirdwolf's faction of Decepticons, only to again be press-ganged into building bodies, this time for [[Full-Tilt]] and [[Trypticon (G1)|Trypticon]]. {{storylink|LG-43 Trypticon Project Chapter}}

===Ask Vector Prime===
To the best of [[Vector Prime]]'s knowledge, Tarantulas and [[Sideways (Armada)|Sideways]] did not think of themselves as relatives. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/05/15}}

[[Sideways (Armada)|Sideways]] claimed he showed up at the last second to help win [[#3H comics|the battle against Primal Prime]] but only referred to Ravage being there, not Tarantulas. {{storylink|Ask_Vector_Prime/Sideways_src#July_6.2C_2015|Ask Sideways, 2015/06/06}} He also claimed to know the secret origins of Tarantulas and the Tripredacus Council. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Sideways, 2015/06/28}}

===IDW Generation 1 continuity===
[[File:SinsoftheWreckers3-Mesothulas.jpg|left|thumb|250px]]

Mesothulas was a non-affiliated scientist who covertly worked for [[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]] during the early stages of the Autobot/Decepticon war. Mesothulas saw their relationship as symbiotic -— Prowl's imagination would feed into Mesothulas's desire to make the impossible real and vice versa. Their partnership resulted in many frightening advancements, such as [[stasis bullet]]s, [[Spark extractor|spark extraction]], [[Decepti-bomb]]s, and [[Aequitas]] itself. What he considered his greatest success, however, was the creation of artificial Transformer life—[[Ostaros]]. Prowl eventually began to have doubts about the ethics involved with Mesothulas's inventions, especially after the scientist unveiled his latest creation: a prison dimension Mesothulas dubbed the "[[Noisemaze]]". {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 3|Sins of the Wreckers #3}}

Unable to let Mesothulas continue his increasingly depraved experiments, Prowl asked [[Impactor (G1)|Impactor]] to dispose of Mesothulas and his creations by pushing the scientist into his own Noisemaze and destroying the entire contents of his workshop. The deed was done, although neither Prowl nor Impactor could bring themselves to put down Ostaros. Instead, Prowl falsified a new identity for him as the Autobot "[[Springer (G1)|Springer]]". {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 3|Sins of the Wreckers #3}} {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 5|Sins of the Wreckers #5}}

[[File:SinsoftheWreckers3 Ultra Energon.jpg|thumb|right|250px|''But then one day he went to that science lab'' ''That mutated spider came down'']]

Mesothulas was prepared for such an occurrence, though, having a personal jumpgate built into his body. Even still, the disorienting effects of the Noisemaze made it centuries before Mesothulas could remember and put it to use. Returning to his lab to find it empty, Mesothulas decided to follow where [[Shockwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Shockwave]] trode and went to [[Earth]]. There, he found and refined a sample of [[Ore-13|Ultra-Energon]] into [[obtenteum]], a super-fuel he used to power his future inventions. Inspired by the native wildlife, Mesothulas developed [[Chimeracon|perfect bio-disguises]] which nearly completely masked a Cybertronian's presence. One creature in particular, the spider, attracted Mesothulas's attention. He modified his own body with Chimeracon technology to gain a tarantula form and renamed himself "Tarantulas". {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 3|Sins of the Wreckers #3}}

At some point after adopting his new [[alternate mode]], Tarantulas kicked off the incident that would later be known as the "[[Roadbuster affair]]" - shrinking down to a tiny form, Tarantulas crawled into [[Roadbuster (G1)|Roadbuster]]'s ear and began whispering to the Autobot, convincing him to do terrible things to his recruits. Roadbuster assumed that he was hearing the voice of [[Mortilus]] and cheerfully started torturing and murdering his cadets on "Mortilus's" orders, while Tarantulas used the [[spark]]s Roadbuster unwittingly harvested to test the Chimeracon process. The Autobots found out just in time to save [[Hubcap (G1)|Hubcap]]. By that point Tarantulas had already fled the scene and everyone assumed that poor old Roadbuster had just gone round the bend. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 4|Sins of the Wreckers #4}}

Needing some real muscle on his side, Tarantulas became the patron of the anarchist group, [[Mayhem Attack Squad|Mayhem]], supplying them with similar bio-disguises. Meanwhile, he turned his attention to building a laboratory complex, the [[Tor]], within the Noisemaze. He also managed to turn Hubcap to his side, serving as a mole within the [[Autobot]] ranks whose [[Outlier]] skills let Tarantulas uncover Prowl's secrets, including the data containing Aequitas's proclamations. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 3|Sins of the Wreckers #3}} Even though Tarantulas admitted having been the voice of "Mortilus" that drove Roadbuster mad, the terrified Hubcap went with it in the hope of justice and getting a stronger body for himself. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 4|Sins of the Wreckers #4}}

[[File:SinsoftheWreckers3-Tarantulasspider.jpg|left|thumb|300px|''Oh, and now Meso crawls over everyone's walls'' ''And he's swingin' all over town'']]

With Prowl a wanted fugitive after his disastrous exploits on [[Caminus]], nobody noticed when Mesothulas ordered Mayhem to abduct Prowl. The disgraced tactician found himself in the Noisemaze, greeted by Tarantulas. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 1|Sins of the Wreckers #1}} Tarantulas suspended Prowl in his webs and presented Aequitas trial data, stolen from [[Verity Carlo]], as collateral for an open conversation between the two. {{Storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 2|Sins of the Wreckers #2}} With the greatest of anticipation, Tarantulas unveiled his new form to Prowl, who was horrified at his old collaborator's metamorphosis. Prowl suspected Tarantulas intended to use the war crimes data from Aequitas to simply blackmail him, but Tarantulas had more complex desires. Honestly, Tarantulas merely wished to work with Prowl again, to recreate the symbiosis of their original possibly-more-than-professional relationship. When Prowl still refused, he was placed in the company of his would-be rescuers: Verity, [[Springer (G1)|Springer]], [[Roadbuster (G1)|Roadbuster]], and [[Arcee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Arcee]], their most shameful, damning thoughts opened bare to him thanks to Tarantulas's new invention, [[Impetus]]. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 3|Sins of the Wreckers #3}}

Tarantulas explained to Verity that her current sickly condition was a result of exposure to the Aequitas supercomputer back on [[Garrus-9]]. Tarantulas attempted to force Prowl into Impetus, only for Prowl to try and talk him out of it, offering to tell him about Ostaros's ''true'' fate and lying that he had killed the artificial Transformer that day in the lab. Before Tarantluas could go through with his plan, Kup Impactor, and Guzzle crashed the Noisemaze with [[Debris]], threatening to tear the pocket dimension apart. Tarantulas ordered his Chimeracons to counterattack and Hubcap to transmit the Aequitas data across the galaxy, only for Hubcap to turn on his employer and free his Autobot prisoners. Arcee, Springer, and Roadbuster ganged up on the spider-bot, but he proved too powerful. Roadbuster managed to temporarily dispatch him by transforming into vehicle mode and ''ramming'' Tarantulas, sending both of them flying out the window. Tarantulas survived the fall by shrinking and crawling inside Roadbuster's head, just like old times.

[[File:K-PLUTCH.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The itsy-bitsy spider blew up Roadbuster's head.]]

Tarantulas taunted his old victim one last time... then expanded back to his full size, blowing open Roadbuster's head from the inside out.

As the surviving Autobots regrouped at the Tor, intending to destroy the entire complex, Tarantulas arrived, promising that before the day was done he would do "something weird" to everyone. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 4|Sins of the Wreckers #4}} Using mass displacement to enlarge his spider mode to massive size, Tarantulas used a retinal scanner to activate a final contingency plan: shrinking the Tor itself down to pocket size so that he can safely transport the facility out of the collapsing dimension. Tarantulas taunted Arcee, Verity, and Prowl, gloating that he'd healed Verity's illness for no reason other than to one-up Prowl. The mad scientist continued to grow as he ranted about his need for revenge on Prowl, prompting Prowl to reveal to his old friend that ''Impactor'' was the one to blame for the destruction of his lab. Realizing this, Tarantulas demanded to know what had become of Ostaros, and seconds later made the connection between Springer's voice and the fate of his creation. Thoughts of revenge momentarily forgotten, Tarantulas attempted to reunite with Ostaros, only to be halted by Arcee and Impactor. Arcee severed Tarantulas's beast mode head, using it to trip the retinal scanner and halt the Tor's contraction.

Having survived the loss of his beast mode head, Tarantulas managed to find Springer, earning himself a punch in the face from the green Autobot. His words were garbled by the energies of the Noisemaze, preventing any kind of meaningful dialogue between creator and creation. The pair struggled with one another as Springer repeatedly stabbed Tarantulas, neither of them able to speak or hear each other. Seconds later, Impactor detonated the entire Noisemaze, destroying almost all of Tarantulas's creations and perhaps the mad scientist with them.

Back in [[Nome]], Verity and Springer watched the northern lights, while a tiny spider spun a web in Springer's wheel-well... {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 5|Sins of the Wreckers #5}}

{{--}}

===''Beast Wars: Uprising''===
[[File:TriggerWarnings Tarantulas.jpg|right|thumb|300px|"HA HA HA! This section is not at all informative!"]]
{{charstubfiction|{{storylink|Trigger Warnings}} {{storylink|Derailment}}}}

==Games==
===''Beast Wars: Transformers'' video game continuity===
====''Beast Wars: Transformers'' video game comic====
[[File:BWgameUK-Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=0.85|Some great dialog there, Tarry.]]
Upon arriving on prehistoric Earth, the dangers of Energon radiation forced the Maximals and Predacons to take on beast alternate forms. Tarantulas picked up a tarantula in his palm and scanned it. Soon, Tarantulas spotted [[Cheetor (BW)|Cheetor]] moving in on the Predacons' crash site. Swearing revenge, Tarantulas transformed and attacked, and threatened to skin the Maximal alive. {{storylink|Beast Wars: Transformers video game advertising comic}}

====''Beast Wars: Transformers'' video game====
{{voiceactor|??? (English), ??? (Japanese)}}
[[File:BeastWarsPSX-Tarantulasstats.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.1|Sadly, there's no Eat Cheetor level.]]

Many Beast Wars combatants had managed to construct personal bases, customized to their personal tastes, due to the extended duration of the war. Tarantulas still preferred to operate out of a dark, underground lair. Tarantulas joined his fellow Predacons in battling not only the persistent Maximal resistance, but the interdimensional monsters known as the [[Skriix]].

=====Maximal campaign=====
After [[Rhinox (BW)|Rhinox]] had expanded his own personal base too close to Tarantulas's own territory, creating an opening for the Predacon to infiltrate Rhinox's personal metropolis. Tarantulas overtook Rhinox's base and reprogrammed its defenses, prompting the Maximals to retake it. The Maximal's offensive push forced Tarantulas to retreat deeper and deeper into the annexed territory, until he finally returned to his own lair. While he was in control of Rhinox's forces, however, Tarantulas had gained access to sensitive information, prompting the Maximals to follow Tarantulas back to his hide-out, and eliminate him once and for all.

=====Predacon campaign=====
Rhinox's expansion into Tarantulas's territory allowed the Predacons to infiltrate the Maximal's "Urban Area" and eliminate Rhinox. {{storylink|Beast Wars: Transformers (video game)|Beast Wars: Transformers}}

{{Note|Due to the nature of this game, a player may select various individual characters to perform the feats required in every level, and complete the game's narrative. Thus, any playable Maximal can fill the role of protagonist in Maximal Mode, and any playable Predacon can fill the role of protagonist in Predacon Mode. The various feats Tarantulas can accomplish throughout gameplay in Predacon Mode as the story protagonist are described on the [[Beast Wars: Transformers (video game)|''Beast Wars'' video game]] page.}}

===''Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals'' (N64)===
[[File:N64Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|Arboreal Camouflage Tarantulas? Blue Crusader Tarantulas?]]
{{voiceactor|[[Alec Willows]] (English), ??? (Japanese)}}

Tarantulas found a way to escape prehistoric Earth and return to Cybertron. The Beast Wars progressed in his absence for a time...

[[File:N64 Tarantulus.jpg|frame|left|Player 2 Has Entered His Stomach. Continue?]]
Then he came back, newly promoted and with an armada of Transwarp battleships under his command, out to end the Beast Wars and enforce the Tripredacus Council's will... {{storylink|Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals (N64)}}
{{note|Each character possessed an alternate ending, displayed if the game was beaten with said character. Each character has only their own ending listed on their pages, see the other characters' pages for Tarantulas's fate in those outcomes.}}

===''Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals'' (PS)===
{{voiceactor|[[Alec Willows]] (English), ??? (Japanese)}}
{{Storylink|Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals (PS)}}
{{charstubgame}}

===''Duel Fight Transformers Beast Wars''===
[[File:DuelFight Tarantulas.gif|thumb|upright=1.1]]
Megatron was capable of summoning Tarantulas forth to the battlefield during his attempts to acquire the super-powerful [[energon crystal]]. {{storylink|Duel Fight Transformers Beast Wars: Beast Warriors' Strongest Decisive Battle|Duel Fight Transformers Beast Wars}}
{{--}}

===''Transformers: Battle Tactics''===
[[File:BattleTacticsTarantulas.jpg|thumb|400px]]
Tarantulas participated in battles against a variety of opponents, both Autobots and Decepticons. Sometimes there were many of him! He appeared in three different bodies:
*''Tarantulas'' — This Super Rare character first appeared in the "Beast Wars: Episode 2" event, and could be recruited by by collecting 250 units of Cybermetal, 75 units of Transmetal, 35 event cores, and 10 cores of this character.
*''Tarantulas'' — This Epic Character was available in the August Daily Campaign and could be recruited by collecting 20 Alpha cores, 20 Beta cores, 20 Omega cores, and 10 cores of this character.
*''Tarantulas Transmetal'' — This Super Rare character was available to 2500 players during the second event of the "Transmetals: Episode 3" mini events.
{{storylink|Transformers: Battle Tactics}}
{{{!}}border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background:transparent"
{{!}}-
{{!}}style="background:transparent; border-right: 0px" valign="top"{{!}}
[[File:Battle-Tactics-Tarantulas-Timelines.jpg|thumb|400px]]
{{!}}style="background:transparent; border-right: 0px" valign="top"{{!}}
[[File:Battle-Tactics-Tarantulas-Transmetal.jpg|thumb|400px]]
{{!}}}
{{--}}

==Toys==
===Beast Wars===
[[File:BWtoy-Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|Interested in getting hog-tied with spider-butt rope? Running is the only 'no' available.]]
*'''Tarantulas''' (Deluxe, 1996/1997)
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''D-4'''
**''Accessories'': Launcher, 4 spider-leg missiles

: Part of the first wave of [[Beast Wars: Transformers (toyline)|''Beast Wars'' product]], Tarantulas transforms into an organic generic spider (''not'' a tarantula). His abdomen contains a spring-loaded missile launcher, which fires the anchor-missile kept in his spider-butt. This missile is attached by a string so he can hang from things like a real spider. The launcher can be removed and used as a [[robot mode]] weapon, using any of his front four spider-legs as missiles. Like all early Deluxe-and-up ''Beast Wars'' toys, he has two different robot mode "heads"; a robotic face and a "mutant" face. He is almost always depicted using the mutant face.

: There is a variation of this toy in the [[Hasbro]] line: Later releases (the smooth bubble) lack the yellow paint on his elbows.

: The [[TakaraTomy|Takara]] release of Tarantulas was originally identical to the Hasbro release. Later, a slightly color-altered version was released, using a brighter shade of green and a slightly darker gray. The color-altered version also replaced the blue eyes on the "robot" head and the black eyes of the "mutant" head with gold.

: This mold was used to make the first [[Blackarachnia (BW)/toys#Beast Wars|Blackarachnia toy]].

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1996/Predacon/Tarantulas/tarantulas.htm More information on Tarantulas at TFU.info]''

{{-}}{{anchor|VsDinobot}}
[[File:VS4-DinobotTarantuas.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|The classic battle of dino vs spider. We've all heard the tale.]]
*'''Brutal Showdown: Dinobot VS Tarans''' (VS pack, 1997)
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''VS-4'''
**''Accessories:'' Launcher, 4 spider-leg missiles

: In Japan, "Tarans" was available both as an individual and in a two-pack with "[[Dinobot (BW)|Dinobot]]". Both toys in this set were identical to their individual releases.

: Currently, it is unknown if the latter "more show-like" redeco of Tarantulas was ever released in a VS set.

{{-}}{{anchor|Transmetal}}
[[File:BWtoy-TarantulasTransmetal.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|I'm-a spawn of-a Unicron! I-a slice-a ya pizza!]]
*'''Tarantulas''' (Deluxe Transmetal, 1998)
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''D-44'''
**''Accessories'': Sawblade weapon

: Part of the first assortment of Deluxe [[Transmetal]]s, Tarantulas transforms into a robotic spider. He also has a third "transport" mode, flipping down a wheel from his abdomen and a saw-blade from under his beast-head, making a spidey-cycle. The saw detaches for robot mode to become a hand-held weapon.

: The Japanese version is slightly different, replacing the "TARANTULAS" [[tampograph]] with "DESTRON" and the Predacon sigil, plus his robot mode eyes are painted as a single visor to match the show look better.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1998/Predacon/Tarantulas/tarantulas.htm More information on Transmetal Tarantulas at TFU.info]''

{{-}}{{anchor|FKTransmetal}}
[[File:Tarantulas-FKTM.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|It's like Eight Legged Freaks, but classier, and with a pizza cutter.]]
*'''Tarantulas''' (Deluxe "Fox Kids" Transmetal, 1999)
**''Accessories'': Sawblade weapon

: A [[redeco]] of the Transmetal Tarantulas toy in grays, silver, and black. He and a Transmetal [[Cheetor (BW)/toys#TMFK|Cheetor]] redeco were part of the "[[Fox Kids]]" toys, so called for the advertisements for the Fox channel on the packaging (as the [[Beast Wars: Transformers (cartoon)|''Beast Wars'' cartoon]] had moved there from syndication). Internal Hasbro documents have listed this toy as "Steel Force Tarantulas",<ref>https://groups.google.com/d/msg/alt.toys.transformers/C30fV9dqOK0/gPO8D3N_PAUJ</ref> a name that did not make it to final packaging.

: These colors were used to depict Tarantulas in the ''[[Primeval Dawn]]'' and [[Transformers: Universe (comic)|''Universe'' comics]]. This toy was also later [[repurposing|repurposed]] as Tarantulas's [[Tarantulas (BWSG)|''Shattered Glass'' counterpart]]. With the toy's limited availability, secondary-market pricing for this item due to its fictional use has gone up.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1999/Predacon/FKTMTarantulas/tarantulas.htm More information on Fox Kids Tarantulas at TFU.info]''

{{-}}

===MicroVerse===
[[File:Tarantulas-Microverse.jpg|100px|thumb|I'm not [[Fantastic Four|The]] [[Thing]], I swear!]]
*'''Orcanoch''' ([[MicroVerse]], 1997)

: A small, non-transforming micro-figure of Tarantulas came with the [[MicroVerse]] [[Orcanoch]] playset. It was presumably painted based on the original design, as its upper body is copper rather than purple. Its only articulation is at the waist, letting it sit in any of the MicroVerse mini-vehicles or playset stations.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1997/Maximal/Orcanoch/orcanoch.htm More information on MicroVerse Tarantulas (via Orchanoch) at TFU.info]

{{-}}

===Beast Wars 10th Anniversary===
[[File:BWXtoy-Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|He's not here to help assemble Transmutate. That leg's his dinner.]]
*'''Predacon Tarantulus''' (Deluxe, 2006)
**''Accessories:'' Launcher, 4 spider-leg missiles

:This toy is a slight [[redeco]] of the original Tarantulas toy, more closely resembling Tarantulas's appearance in the cartoon (save the big Predacon faction sigil tampograph). Part of the second wave of [[Transformers: Beast Wars 10th Anniversary|''Beast Wars'' 10th Anniversary product]], he came with a DVD of the episode "[[Spider's Game]]," plus the left leg to [[Transmutate (character)|Trans-Mutate]].

:This release of Tarantulus has [[Misassembly|misassembled]] forearm/claws, which can be easily swapped to the correct position due to the [[ball joint]]ed elbows.
::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2006/Predacon/PredaconTarantulas/predacontarantulas.htm More information on 10th Anniversary Tarantulas at TFU.info]''

{{--}}

{{anchor|TimelinesToy}}
===Timelines===
[[File:Timelinestoy-TarantulasDOFP.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Everyone's second-favorite purple-and-yellow motorcycle two-Mini-Con-having servant of Unicron.]]
*'''Tarantulas''' (2015)
:Tarantulas is a redeco of ''[[Transformers United|United]]'' [[Scrapheap (G1)#United|Scrapheap]], itself a retool of ''[[Transformers (2010 toyline)|Transformers]]'' [[Wreck-Gar (G1)#Transformers (2010)|Wreck-Gar]] with a new head. He turns into a motorcycle. The toy is meant to represent his pre-''Beast Wars'' appearance. The toy also comes with two [[Arachnoid]]s that can be pegged into his left and right arms.

[[File:Timelinestoy-TarantulasDOFPslideshow.jpg|left|thumb|150px]]
:When first revealed at [[BotCon 2014]], the toy's color was different from the final release's appearance. The toy was lighter colored (including the Arachnoids!), his mouthplate was green, and his arms were entirely colored green, among many other differences.
{{2010Wreck-GarMold}}

{{-}}

===Combiner Wars===
{{anchor|DawnOfThePredacus}}
[[File:Timelines botcon tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|*Insert Spider-tank related caption here*]]
*'''Dawn of the Predacus''' ([[BotCon 2016]] box set)
**''Accessories'': Claw weapon, Combiner Foot/Hand

:A [[retool]] of ''[[Combiner Wars (toyline)|Combiner Wars]]'' [[Rook (Generations)#Generations|Rook]], "Predacon Tarantulas" features a new spider-esque head. As a ''Combiner Wars'' Deluxe limb he is able to combine with any Voyager Class toys released as part of the same subline but is, of course, intended to be combined with Sea Clamp, Cicadacon, Ramhorn, and Ravage to create [[Predacus]].

:Rather than 5mm hands, Tarantulas has forward-facing 5mm ports in front of his fists. This allows him to mount his claw-like accessory as an integrated weapon or use ''Combiner Wars'' combiner hands (one of which is included) as giant "Hulk hands".

:He was available exclusively at [[BotCon 2016]] in the "Dawn of the Predacus" box set with [[Ravage (G1)/toys#BotCon2016|Ravage]], [[Ram Horn#Combiner Wars|General Ramhorn]], [[Cicadacon#Combiner Wars|General Cicadacon]], and [[Sea Clamp#Combiner Wars|General Sea Clamp]].
{{CWRookMold}}
{{--}}

==Merchandise==
[[File:Tarantulasmutatingcard.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67]]
*'''Beast Wars Transformers Mutating Card Game''' (1997)
:Tarantulas was one of the 24 beast warriors to receive a battle card representation for the Beast Wars [[Beast Wars Transformers Mutating Card Game|card game]].
{{-}}
===Robot Heroes===
[[File:Robotheroestarantulasprimal.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|Don't take your eyes off your mech fluid, Primal.]]
*'''Optimus Primal vs Predacon Tarantulas''' (2008)

: Part of the second wave of ''[[Transformers: Universe (2008 toyline)|Universe]]'' ''[[Robot Heroes (toyline)|Robot Heroes]]'', this PVC figurine of Tarantulas' original body has articulation in the shoulders and neck. He was available only in a "Beast Wars Series" two-pack with [[Optimus Primal/toys|Optimus Primal]] (amusingly enough, the [[Maximal]] he also came with in the ''[[MicroVerse]]'' [[Orcanoch]] playset).

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2008/Predacon/RHTarantulas/tarantulas.htm More information on Robot Heroes Tarantulas at TFU.info]''

{{--}}

==Notes==
[[File:BWcommercial-Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|Not terribly appealing.]]
*Tarantulas is referred to as simply "Tarantula" in the [[commercial]] advertising his toy. This commercial and also early promotional pictures showed the original Tarantulas toy as being transparent orange, but the final toy was a clear deep purple instead. Presumably, this was for a little visual variety in the early line, which already had a largely tan toy ([[Dinobot (BW)|Dinobot]]) and a largely yellow toy ([[Cheetor (BW)/toys|Cheetor]]) in the Deluxe range, plus a Mega-sized Predacon arachnid then planned to be orange ([[Scorponok (BW)|Scorponok]]), and [[Tigatron]], who was at one point slated to be a traditional orange tiger.
[[File:TarantulasArm.jpg|upright=0.85|thumb|He tastes everything he holds.]]
*In the original control art for Tarantulas, the claws are shown in the same configuration as used in the show. In other words, the claws were somehow swapped during the assembly process and have remained as such on every version of the mold thereafter.
*The original Tarantulas toy has ''nine'' eyes in [[beast mode]], as does the show model. This makes characters' references to him as "eight-eyes" rather... interesting.
*Tarantulas's toy bios paint him as a really dumb ninja-like stealth assassin. Both of his [[Tech Spec]]s give him an intelligence of 4, even the numbers that accompany his ''Transmetals'' bio which mentions the cartoon's [[quantum surge]].
*In the first season, Tarantulas is characterized more as a cannibalistic, psychotic gourmand who happens to be the Predacons' Science Officer than as the mad scientist and master plotter he becomes from "[[Spider's Game]]" onwards. This is to the extent that his official season one profile makes several mentions of his eating habits, describes his sole interest as being "food", and summarizes his relationship with the other Predacons as simple disdain, as he considers them to all be potential meals.
*In the Japanese dub of ''Beast Wars'', Tarantulas retained his trademark cackle, but it was a little ''different''. His voice was very high-pitched and he shrieked almost constantly. His trademark laugh more closely resembled a wicked witch of sorts.
[[File:OptimalSituation Tarantulas insignia.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Tarantulas is one of Reprolabels's best customers.]]
*From "[[Optimal Situation]]" onwards, the [[Arachnoid]]s sport a Tarantulas-themed insignia.
[[File:TMtigatronboxback2.jpg|thumb|Pew! Pew!]]
*Tarantulas's origins are a bit complicated. He declares in "[[Other Victories]]" that he and the [[Tripredacus Council]] have origins other than Autobot and Decepticon, such that they would not be affected by the destruction of the Ark. Megatron's line about "Unicron's spawn" was apparently not intended by [[Bob Forward]] to be taken literally but as a generic Transformer insult; [[Larry DiTillio]] has said Bob "regrets" the line and they never had ''any'' fixed idea of Tarantulas' origin. Larry also said that had the show continued, the characters "might" be descended from the [[Cybertronian (faction)|Cybertronians]].<ref>[http://groups.google.com/group/alt.toys.transformers/msg/f06828ec523295c1?dmode=source&output=gplain Larry DiTillio's take on Tarantulas origins! at alt.toys.transformers]</ref> A Unicronian origin also creates potential canonical issues, as Tarantulas says that "under our rule, Cybertron will conquer the universe" ("[[Other Victories]]"), whereas Unicron's goal would have been to eat Cybertron. But, much like [[Terrorsaur (BW)|Terrorsaur]]'s line about "[[Darksyde (BW)|the dark side]]", this line developed a life of its own. Eventually this connection was reasserted in [[3H Productions]]' ''[[Primeval Dawn]]'' storyline, initially written by... Bob Forward. On the other hand, [[Fun Publications]]' "[[A Common Foe]]" depicted a [[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]]/Cybertronian origin for Tarantulas and the Tripredacus Council but left the specifics a mystery.
*Tarantulas's body in "[[Theft of the Golden Disk]]" is based on [[Ransack (Cybertron)|''Cybertron'' Ransack]]. His body in "[[Dawn of Future's Past]]", however, is a unique design not directly based on an existing toy, unlike the rest of the show characters in the story.
*Tarantulas is probably the only [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] [[Minion of Unicron]] who avoided being labeled a [[Decepticon]].
*From what can be observed from art on the back of Transmetal Tigatron's packaging, Tarantulas's vok-enhanced abilities include levitating and firing energy beams from his eye(s?) in [[robot mode]]. Neat!

===Foreign names===
*''Japanese:'' '''Tarans''' (タランス ''Taransu''), '''Tarantulas''' (タランチュラス ''Taranchurasu'')
*''Italian:'' '''Metal Tarantulas''' (Transmetal toy)
*''Korean:'' '''Tarantulas''' (타란튤라스 ''Talantyullaseu'')
*''Mandarin:'' '''Chīh-chū''' (Taiwan, 蜘蛛, "Spider"), '''Hóng Chīh-chū''' (Taiwan second and third season, 紅蜘蛛, "Red Spider"), '''Láng Zhū''' (China, 狼蛛, "Tarantula")
*''Polish:'' '''Tarantulator'''
*''Portuguese:'' '''Tarântulos''' (Brazil)

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Beast Wars Predacons]]
[[Category:Beast Wars 10th Anniversary]]
[[Category:Beast Wars: Uprising Predacons]]
[[Category:Cloud Predacons]]
[[Category:Combiner Wars]]
[[Category:Combiners]]
[[Category:Double agents]]
[[Category:Generation 1 Decepticons]]
[[Category:IDW Generation 1 Transformers]]
[[Category:Law enforcement]]
[[Category:Legends Predacons]]
[[Category:Minions of Unicron]]
[[Category:Ninjas]]
[[Category:Robot Heroes]]
[[Category:Scientists]]
[[Category:Timelines characters]]
[[Category:Toys "R" Us exclusives]]
[[Category:Transformers with three modes]]
[[Category:Transmetals]]
[[Category:Unicron-related characters]]
[[Category:Universe Predacons]]
[[Category:Universe (2008)]]
[[Category:Wings Universe Predacons]]