Suiken

Suiken is an Autobot Trainbot from the Headmasters portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.

What are you looking at?

Despite his rail-riding alternate mode, Suiken (スイケン) is an extremely capable warrior on even the most rugged and uneven terrain. He's a veteran of a great many battles, which has given him an incredible depth of knowledge. He can plan battle tactics or even stellar navigation routes for the Trainbots' combined space-traveling train mode.

Fiction

The Headmasters cartoon

Voice actor: Kazumi Tanaka (Japanese)

In 2011, Suiken and the Trainbots were operating on Earth. After Galvatron invaded Cybertron, the robot trains assembled to transport their fellow Autobots to Cybertron across the Space Bridge. Shouki intervened on Ultra Magnus's first fight with Sixshot, knocking aside the ninja consultant long enough for the Autobots to roll out. The convoy was attacked along the way by the Constructicons, but Metroplex drove them off. Four Warriors Come out of the Sky The Trainbots formed Raiden and fought alongside Defensor and Superion against their Decepticon combiner counterparts. They were nearly crushed by falling debris when Bruticus collapsed a building on them using his sonic stun gun. The Mystery of Planet Master Suiken and the Trainbots returned to Earth just in time to shuttle Hot Rod and the Headmasters back to Cybertron, after their successful quest for the Matrix of Leadership. Birth of the Fantastic Double Prime

Dreamwave comics continuity

Suiken was part of a big crowd of unhappy Cybertronians who made Prowl look really stupid when he tried to make a speech assuring them that everything would be okay after the collapse of Shockwave's supposedly-benevolent rule. Skyfire

Toys

The Headmasters

• Suiken (Trainbot, 1987)
  • Japanese ID number: C-128
  • Accessories: "Storm laser" pistol, 3 "joint parts" connectors, left Raiden fist

Suiken transforms into an Tokai-type 153 Express locomotive. He also forms the left arm of the team's combined mode Raiden... though he can also form the right arm if you're so inclined.

• Raiden (Gift set, 1987)

The entire Trainbot team was sold both as individuals and in a six-bot Raiden gift-set. All six toys in this set were identical to their individual releases.

• Raiden (TF Jr set, 1987)

An exceedingly simplified version of the entire Trainbot team was made available as part of the Transform Jr series. Each individual has a (stumpy) representation of their larger robot modes, and could combine to form a stumpy Raiden.

Zone

• Suiken (Trainbot, 1990)
  • Japanese ID number: C-357
  • Accessories: "Storm laser" pistol, 3 "joint parts" connectors, left Raiden fist

The Trainbots were re-released during Zone in new packaging, and only as individuals, never in a box set. The toys are identical to their original Headmasters incarnations.

Trivia

• Though it is a little tricky to tell the true meaning of Suiken's name since it is "spelled" in phonetic Katakana rather than Kanji, the most likely translation to English is "Water Fist", a style of Kung-Fu.

• The Trainbots are all originally Diaclone toys, which came in two different color schemes. However, there are several mold differences between the Diaclone and Transformers versions. Suiken's most notable difference is that the connector-peg for his robot-mode backpack went from a long, detailed antenna (as seen on his box-art) to a shorter and far less breakable peg. The Transformers releases also lost the Diaclone pilots (of course) and the little plastic tracks for the trains to ride on.

External links

• Suiken at TFU.info

• Diaclone Suiken at Diaclone.net (Japanese-language site)