Shield Dragon

Shield Dragon is a Beastformer from the Generation 1 continuity family.

You're gunna be dead meat, Little Orphan Annie!

Shield Dragon (シールドドラゴン Shīrudo Doragon) knows what you did. As the Emperor of Zigrad under the brutal King Cobrander, he uses his incredible hearing to keep track of the terrified populace, and his ability to project painful-to-lethal radio waves keeps them terrified. And with his Teleprojector (テレプロジェクター Terepurojekutā) MVP Weapon, he can both augment his already-considerable sonic abilities, as well as pick up visuals as well, using it to spy on people from great distances.

Like his King, he is an utterly remorseless beast, eager to subjugate or crush those deemed weaker than himself. Under their rule, Zigrad has become an isolated land, and even other beasts who served with him among Alligatron's now-disbanded rebel army consider the nation a cesspit of cruelty and inequality.

Fiction

Beastformers comic

Shield Dragon fought against the Laser Beasts when they emerged from their underground kingdom to challenge the Beastformers for the surface of the planet. Beastformers VS Laser Beasts

Toys

Beastformers

• Shield Dragon (Beastformer, 1988)
  • ID number: 54
  • Accessories: "Teleprojector" MVP Weapon

Released only in the post-Transformers "RPG"-themed Beastformers sequel series, Shield Dragon is an anthopomorphic frilled lizard in blue robotic armor. The Battle Emblem on his chest reveals one of three symbols when warmed up; Fire, Water or Wood.

He was sold in the second assortment of individually-packed Beastformers, with a peg-hole in the top flap, and a sticker on the bottom with his name and role on it. This series did not have any kind of "rare card" random pack-in promotion. Samples of Shield Dragon (among others) have also been found on simple bubble cards, with the bio card positioned so the name shows clearly under the figure's feet, but it is uncertain if this style of packaging was ever properly sold at retail.

Later in the run, the "mood ring" styled rubsigns were replaced with new rubsigns that revealed full-color Fire/Wood/Water images on black backdrops. (These rubsign variants also happened at the same time in the Hasbro Battle Beast version of the line.)

• Perfect 6-Piece Set (Box set, 1988)
  • Accessories: "Teleprojector" MVP Weapon

Shield Dragon was also part of the "Perfect 6-Piece Set" (パーフェクト6体セット Pāfekuto 6 Tai Setto, the English text on the packaging renders it as "Beastformer 6 Animals Set") multi-pack, unchanged from his individual release.

Five of the six slots in this box set will always have the exclusive Crystal Killer Fish, plus the "common" Beastformers Baboon, Cobrander, Eagle Killer, and Shield Dragon. The sixth would be either Demonkey or Little Serow, both of whom were also only available in this set, meaning you'd need to buy two for a complete collection. Thankfully, a panel on the bottom-right corner of the box back tells the buyer which six figures are in that set, so at least it's not blind luck this time.

Notes

• Shield Dragon is one of 22 figures that were advertised on multiple Transformers-era materials but not actually released in that iteration of the line.
• His 1987 character-poster art (seen at top) incorrectly gives him a golden weapon. The 1988 version of the art corrects this mistake.
• His 1988 bio card gives him the nickname "Erimaki" (エリマキ), which means "frill". It also notes he was born on Zigrad's Dragon Peninsula.

Foreign names

• English: Leapin' Lizard