Refute (Armada)

Refute is a Mini-Con from the Armada portion of the Unicron Trilogy continuity family.

Yeah yeah, Futurama Robot Mafia reference here, whatever.

Refute is old because he is hard. He's an ornery old sort with lots of battles under his belt, and a lot of battle damage on his armor (which he likes to show off as a sort of "trophy"). He's not fond of the hero-worship that sometimes follows his exploits, but he suffers through it. He's especially good friends with Hoist; when the robot then known as "Smokescreen" was nearly killed in battle, Refute really didn't take it well. But the two have bounced back to become one of the toughest two-bot teams among the Autobot ranks.

An incarnation of Refute is the partner to the Decepticon thug Ransack in the Universe War.

Fiction

Dreamwave Armada comic

Refute was among the Mini-Cons gathered at the Black Mesa in Arizona, in preparation for their return to Cybertron. The End

Ask Vector Prime

In Aurex 203.26 Zeta, Oil Slick, Ransack, and Refute were battling Swerve and Roadhandler when Unicron abducted them. Ask Vector Prime

Toys

Armada

• Hoist with Refute (Super-Con, 2003)

Available only with his larger partner Hoist, Refute transforms into a Cybertronic vehicle with large gripper-arms in front. A gear-wheel system moves the gripper-clamp when rolled along in vehicle mode, or when attached to the gearing system on the underside of the Armada Cyclonus mold (in theory, at least).

This mold was also used to make Grip-Lock.

In Japan, this toy is the powered-up form of Liftor, not a unique character.

• More information on Refute at TFU.info

Universe (2003)

• Smokescreen with Liftor vs. Ransack with Refute (Battle in a Box, 2004)

The Refute toy was redecoed as part of a "Battle in a Box" multi-pack along with Universe Ransack, Universe Smokescreen, and Liftor. This set was only available in "market six" stores like Kohl's.

This version of Refute is slightly retooled, shortening the "fins" on his vehicle-mode back-end (his robot mode "toes") to about ⅓ their original length.

• More information on Refute at TFU.info

Notes

• Refute's gearing system (and the attachment method for it) seems to indicate the Hoist mold was originally going to have a gear-wheel gimmick as part of the crane-arm, similar to the kind found on the Armada Cyclonus toy. He is also unable to connect to Cyclonus's gear system without the bulk being incorrectly transformed.