Zariganian

Zariganian is a Laser Beast from the Generation 1 continuity family.

Crayfish Voorhees

Captain of the Underwater Forces in the Laser Beast army, Zariganian (ザリガニアン) simply does not relent. Like a coiled spring, he is always tensed, waiting for the call to action. He pushes forward with a seemingly inexhaustible reserve of energy, with a laser-like focus on his goal. He is very sensitive to noise, able to easily detect differences in a sound's wavelength, making it incredibly difficult to hide from him. Once he sets his eye on a target, he will not rest until he has ended it.

And while he excels in underwater combat, he's no slouch in other environments, a terror on land or in the dark of underground. He's physically imposing, and seemingly incapable of tiring out. He also packs the powerful Tri Flat Laser MVP Weapon, which has the unique ability to render targets into flat surfaces. With a powerful charge, it can turn even a battleship into a mere steel sheet.

Fiction

Beastformers comic

Zariganian panicked when an earthquake cracked the ceiling above the Laser Beasts' underground city, causing water to pour in and flood the city. He himself was alright, being amphibious and all. Legend of the Three Wise Ones He participated in the invasion of the surface and war with the Beastformers who lived there, and during one battle was sent fleeing by the Sheep Hunter and Stag Hunter. Beastformers VS Laser Beasts

Legends comic

During the final battle between the Laser Beasts and the Beastformers in 2023, Zariganian witnessed White Leo and Tigerburn become immobile crystal statues. The Road to Legends' Revival Chapter 1

In 2038, Zariganian was among the Laser Beasts who joined the Beastformers in fighting against Galvatron II's invading Decepticons on Beast. He faced off against the Decepticons as the Legends World refugees took off in the Axalon to ram Nemesis. The Road to Legends' Revival Chapter 3

Toys

Beastformers

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ki ki ki, ma ma ma

• Zariganian (Laser Beast, 1988)

• Beast ID number: 85
• Accessories: "Tri Flat Laser" MVP Weapon (usually)

Part of the first assortment of Takara's Beastformers individually-boxed Laser Beasts, Zariganian is an anthropomorphic crayfish in high-tech light blue armor. He has a transparent orb in his torso, revealing the elemental power of Fire, Water, or Wood when you look through it into a light source.

Nominally, he comes with the crayfish-themed "Tri Flat Laser" blaster. However, there is also a chance he could come with the weapon from one of the other 11 Laser Beasts in his shipping case; matching the Beasts with their same-numbered weapons was part of the "role-playing game" attached to the line, encouraging kids to buy more of the toys.

This toy was actually released in Hasbro's Battle Beasts line as part of the "Shadow Warriors" series, but they saw extremely limited distribution, largely hitting clearance chains in the US, plus limited releases in parts of Europe. As such, it generally goes for a bit less than the later Laser Beasts that were only released in Japan, but not a lot less. There is a minor variant to the gun that has popped up in some EU and Canadian samples, though it's a bit harder to notice than most of the other gun variants: both versions have the "85" ID number stamped on the left-hand side behind the "eye" in the top-center of the gun, but the common version has the number much larger and centered in the space, taking up most of the vertical space, while the variant is a fair bit smaller and in the bottom-left corner of the part.

Notes

• Zariganian takes his name from the Japanese word for "crayfish", zarigani (蝲蛄 or 蜊蛄).
• It is unknown what Zariganian's Hasbro Battle Beasts name would have been.