Tankor (BM)

The name or term "Tankor" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Tankor (disambiguation).

Tankor is a Vehicon from the Beast Era portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.

Go ahead and make fun of his name. He won't get it and he'll kill you anyway.

Tankor SMAAAAAASHHH! Tankor PULLLVERIZZZZEEE! Tankor SLAG BEAST BOTS! Tankor is the brute force part of Megatron's first trio of Vehicon generals and commander of the powerful Tank Drones. He's slow, simple-minded and immensely powerful. Lovably dim, his limited intelligence can be a drawback; he can easily be confused, misled, or even turned against Megatron, though temporarily. However, this is balanced out by his natural state of blind frustration and destructive rage, which makes getting him to listen to any cajoling a less than simple task.

Tankor is in actuality a programmed shell personality given life by the spark of the Maximal Rhinox.

An alternate-universe incarnation of Tankor is also a Minion of Unicron in a vast, multiverse-spanning conflict. He, by contrast, is based on the spark of Scorponok.

His command code is "pulverize".

Fiction

Beast Machines cartoon

Voice actor: Paul Dobson, Richard Newman (as Rhinox, later Tankor) (English), Daiki Nakamura (Japanese), Maurício Berger (Portuguese), Gerald Paradies (German), Claudio Fattoretto (Italian)

"Tankor's name litt... leeter... as it sounds!"

When the Maximals returning to Cybertron from the Beast Wars were infected with Megatron's virus, Rhinox was not as lucky as most of his comrades. While the Transmetals were able to stay mobile for a time, Rhinox was immediately paralyzed and overtaken by Tank Drones. His spark was forcibly removed and stored in a canister in Megatron's citadel. Apocalypse

When Megatron found that he needed underlings to properly control his Vehicon armies in battle, he used Rhinox's spark to power his tank general Tankor. He reasoned that if the Maximals discovered their new enemy had once been their close friend, they would be less willing to fight him. Unfortunately for Megatron, Tankor was only marginally more intelligent than the mindless drones he was created to lead. Meanwhile, Rhinox's spark/consciousness remained intact inside Tankor, albeit unable to act. Fires of the Past

The Maxies are playing with the big boys now!

After Megatron claimed there were fabulous prizes to be won! for whichever general got the Maximals, Tankor went after them and, after a vicious battle, actually captured them. He then took them to Megatron and demanded his reward... which would be to have his spark removed. Primal managed to use his affinity with the Allspark to contact Tankor's spark and convince him to do the right thing: the Vehicon helped them escape and went on the run with then, but Megatron was able to remote delete the tank's memories of this so he'd be their enemy again. Primal felt something familiar about that spark, though. Mercenary Pursuits

The Maximals tried to ambush Tankor to see whether drones would stop functioning without their general; the plan was ultimately unsuccessful due to Rattrap's interference. Tankor received severe damage nonetheless, and had to spend half a solar cycle in a preparation chamber. Once he was operational once more, he rushed out to defend Megatron against the Maximals. But Megatron had made a deal with Rattrap while Tankor was offline, and ordered the Vehicon general to allow the Maximals free passage out of his citadel. The Weak Component

Tankor was part of an attack against the Maximals near a spark-extraction factory. He mostly harassed Rattrap, until he lost track of the rodent. He then turned his attentions to a grounded Nightscream. The two Maximals teamed up to take Tankor out, with Nightscream using his vampiric attack to drain Tankor of his energon. Discovery

Tankor was put in charge of overseeing cargo-transfer at a space port. He continuously ordered his drones to work faster, no matter how fast they were already working. Rattrap then got his attention by throwing an explosive his way. This of course got the reaction they had hoped out of Tankor, and the Vehicon general began chasing Cheetor and Rattrap. During the chase, Cheetor tricked Tankor into blowing up a bunch of his own drones. The chase continued until Rattrap got into position to hit Tankor with a crane. Though Tankor wasn't phased from being knocked into the distance, Rattrap managed to hop onto him, and hack into his brain. Accessing Tankor's memories, Rattrap discovered that the Vehicon general had once been his friend Rhinox. Descent

The Maximals woke Tankor's spark, but the Rhinox they got was not the Rhinox they expected. Tainted and embittered by his time inside Tankor, Rhinox rejected the Maximals and embraced Megatron's plan for a "peaceful", technologically-pure Cybertron, only with himself at its head instead of Megatron. Apocalypse

Don't make me pull this spark over.

Tankor-Rhinox immediately began plotting against both Megatron and the Maximals. He caught and reprogrammed one of Megatron's Diagnostic Drones, forcing it to work for him. Survivor He found the Oracle and, using the Diagnostic Drone, retrieved the Key to Vector Sigma from within. He then faked his own death, seeking to remove himself from both factions' suspicions. The Key. Manipulating events from behind the scenes, Tankor tricked Rattrap into activating an organic rapid-growth catalyst that would make the organics appear much more powerful and out of control, thus inspiring Megatron to take more radical measures to contain them. The Catalyst His escalating arms race gambit worked in manipulating Megatron into firing the key on a planetary scale—which would have killed all the organics, including the Maximals and Megatron, leaving Tankor to rule a pure mechanical world. Tankor's manipulations failed when he tried to attack Megatron, and a provision against doing so, hard-wired into his programming, shut him down. Due to Tankor's manipulations, however, Primal opened the Plasma Energy Chamber and Megatron fired the Key. The ensuing clash of energies destroyed Tankor's body, and his spark joined the Allspark. End of the Line

Primal met Rhinox's spark one last time within the Allspark, where Rhinox expressed regret over his recent actions. Fallout

Dreamwave Armada comic

When the Heralds of Unicron destabilized the space bridge nexus, causing the space bridges to become windows to other dimensions, Jetfire caught a glimpse of Tankor in one of portals. Worlds Collide, Part 4 of 4

Universe CD-ROM

"TANKOR RAAAAAAAAAPTURED."

On an alternate Cybertron, Tankor fought alongside the Decepticons Obsidian, Razorclaw, Reptilion, and Blackarachnia against Optimus Primal and his Autobots. One of these battles—the most violent of that year—was interrupted by a mysterious ship that sucked those Decepticons up on beams of light and sped away. None of the combatants realized that it was taking its captives to Unicron for use in a massive army. Universe CD-ROM

3H comics

Because that's what friends do.

In a parallel universe, the Predacon Megatron "decimated" Cybertron's population by capturing their sparks. (It is unknown whether this literally means he only got one-tenth of the Cybertronians.) Instead of Rhinox, Tankor was created from Scorponok. Tankor served under him, a veneer of dumb, brutish loyalty secretly concealing his actual dumb, brutish loyalty to Obsidian, who arrived partway through the Spark War. It was at the latter's bidding that Tankor terminated Megatron, allowing Obsidian to supplant the Predacon's rule with an iron-fisted tyranny of his own. Tankor became the enforcer of this new regime, knowing no purpose but the destruction of all that stood before his master. Waspscream's Predacons, returning Maximals, the Mutants, and the Wreckers all fought back and were met with barbarous tactics. The pair held the planet in fear... until Unicron decided that such a mindset would serve his own purposes, and he pulled them out of their universe entirely. They served him reluctantly.

Unicron, his ruined form trapped between dimensions, sought to revitalize himself by pitting abducted Transformers against each other within his own body, absorbing their energon radiation and, eventually, sparks. But Tankor was spared this fate, instead overseeing the deathmatch arena along with Obsidian, Razorclaw, Reptilion, and Striker. Silverbolt, one of the intended victims, recognized Tankor. Obsidian confirmed the familiarity, but noted that in his and Tankor's own timeline, Silverbolt had "died screaming". Abduction

Stop hitting yourself! Stop hitting yourself!

For all his accomplishments, Tankor still did a pretty crappy job of keeping Optimus Primal from freeing Silverbolt and dozens of other captives. Escape

In the final battle of the Universe War, Rhinox defeated this Tankor, presumably getting some closure for his actions as his own universe's Tankor. Revelations Part 2

IDW Generation 1 continuity

Although Rhinox has appeared in the IDW Generation 1 continuity's past, there are no indications that confirm or deny that he and Tankor are the same character.

This section covers fiction that is ongoing. It will be added to as the story progresses. If it isn't current, you can help by updating it.

"You promised us PEACE!" threatened the guy named Tankor who transforms into a tank with a giant missile launcher cannon over his shoulder and more missiles in his chest.

Before the war, Tankor was involved in underground gladiatorial fights. Megatron Origin #2

During the war, Tankor fled Cybertron, and returned there in the present day with the promise of peace. No Exit When a submerged Titan was discovered, which declared Starscream the chosen one, Tankor witnessed this along with many others. Primus: All Good Things Later, Tankor helped Flatline deal with the wounded after the Necrotitan's death wave, and, having fallen in with Scoop's religious rhetoric, he accused Starscream of being the source of the city's troubles. No Exit When 70 billion Ammonites struck Iacon, Tankor was among those evacuated from the burning city. Black Planet

Tankor attended the public trial of Megatron. Towards Peace Six months later he was drinking at Maccadam's Old Oil House alongside another Tankor he had befriended. Other Cybertronians called him "Fat Tankor" to differentiate the two, though wisely not to his face A 'Bot and Her City and he thought they were calling him "Fast Tankor". Mistakes and Mayhem

At the bar the two Tankors were interviewed by Circuit on the subject of a recent attack on Windblade, and Fat 'Fast' Tankor was quick to point the blame at Starscream. Windblade vol. 1 #2 Windblade brought them both with her into the depths of Metroplex to show evidence of Starscream's foul play, only for the group to be captured and imprisoned by Starscream's Badgeless thugs. Fortunately they were broken out of jail by Chromia, Sky-Byte and Swindle. Windblade vol. 1 #3

When contact was established with Windblade's homeworld Caminus (after Menasor had stepped on it), Tankor and his bar friends volunteered to help with relief efforts. During a live broadcast, Tankor grumbled about how much of a jerk Ironhide was and how nobody appreciated them, only to find the Camiens didn't know or give a damn what a Decepticon was, just being happy to see some Cybertronians.The Possible Light So of course that jerk Prowl and Devastator ruined things by demanding all Cybertronians leave Caminus on pain of death. Tankor engaged in futile battle (while yelling that he'd change his name to "Better Tankor" if he took the combiner down) even if he did manage to save Waspinator. Superion saved them but sadly not before Tankor learned people weren't calling him "fast". Mistakes and Mayhem

Later, when Swindle tried to lead a ragtag invasion of Caminus during a combiner battle, Tankor, the other Tankor, and Sparkstalker backed up Chromia in securing the space bridge. He witnessed the chaotic end of the Combiner Wars too. All That Remains More importantly, the end of Combiner Wars meant a rad party down at Blurr's! Phat Tankor killed it on the dance floor with Tall Tankor and Waspinator. Windblade vol. 2 #4 Tankor was again hanging at Maccadam's when the Dinobots had too much to drink and started beating everyone up. Redemption

Transformers Legends comic

When his his co-workers at Axalon Trading Company were turned into techno-organic robots, Rhinox was jealous and wished he could be a cool robot, imagining he'd look like Tankor. LG03 Tankor Prologue His wish came true when he was affected by Transformers sickness and turned into Tankor overnight. Devoted to restoring the world to how it was in the '80s when he was young, Tankor used his newfound power to terrorize Tokyo with his Tank Drones and '80s Transformation Beam, inconveniencing his co-workers by turning their modern electronics into their 30-year old counterparts. Opposing his ambition, Rattrap used a bomb to send Tankor and his drones flying in an explosion, though he appreciated the fact that it was at least an '80s-like explosion. Bonus Edition Vol. 3

Tankor did not give up, however, but went on to build two robot soldiers, Whirl and Roadbuster, to aid him in his plans. He brought them to the city to continue his attack, but was annoyed that Waspinator claimed his new underlings were Transformers characters when Tankor had in fact based them on an unrelated robot anime from the '80s. To his surprise, Whirl then developed a desire to be a hero and turned on him. Bonus Edition Vol. 4 Having lost a soldier, Tankor decided to enact his "Total Humanity '80s Transformation Plan" and entrusted the '80s Transformation Beam to the loyal Roadbuster, who blasted everyone who opposed them into '80s forms. An impassioned plea by Rattrap not to get hung up on the past brought Tankor to a halt, and though he couldn't bring himself to renounce his nostalgia, the opening let Whirl and Rattrap counterattack and defeat Roadbuster. Tankor retreated with his underling and later settled down to run an '80s-themed café in Akihabara. Bonus Edition Vol. 5

At one point, Tankor ran into Thrust and Jetstorm and, seeing them as kindred spirits, tried to convert them into '80s fans as well. They both refused, causing him to grow angry and attack them. I'm Tankor, dana! During Christmas, Tankor dressed up like Santa Claus and handed out Generation 1 toys. Christmas He eventually relapsed and started attacking Tokyo with Roadbuster and a returned Whirl again, only to be defeated by the dimensionally displaced Jetfire and revert back to the harmless Rhinox. Bonus Edition Vol. 7

Games

Transformers Legends

Tankor was part of a group of Decepticons who teamed up with the Autobots Wingblade and Nightbeat to battle the Ammonites on a distant planet. Together, they were able to drive off several Ammonite attacks, but the two factions soon started fighting one another over differing opinions. Eventually, the Autobots defeated the Ammonites and sent the Decepticons packing. Though angered by this turn of events, Tankor and the other Decepticons found consolation that the Ammonites also tasted defeat at the Autobots' hands, and returned to their starship. Into the Abyss

Tankor was one of Megatron's generals after the Predacon conquered Cybertron. When the Maximals returned to the planet, he, Thrust and Jetstorm were sent to take care of them, but failed. Beast Machines

Transformers: Battle Tactics

Tankor participated in battles against a variety of opponents, both Autobots and Decepticons. Sometimes there were many of him! Transformers: Battle Tactics

Toys

Beast Machines

Tankor SMASH!, Tankor CRUSH puny hum... erm BEAST BOT!

• Tankor (Mega, 1999)
  • Accessories: Projectile

Part of the first wave of Beast Machines product, Tankor transforms into a large Cybertronic tank. Aside from a spring-loaded missile launcher, he also features a light-piped "scanner eye" on his turret, and twin sawblades that spin via gear-wheel system when his tank mode is pushed along. In robot mode, all of these gimmicks are retained, though the "scanner eye" is this time in his robot head.

For reasons unknown, his name was misspelled as "Tankorr" on his instructions.

This toy was redecoed into Universe incarnation of Tankor. The toy was also the model for the Beast Era incarnation of Quake while the appearance of the toy itself was repurposed as Quake's Tank Drones.

• More information on Tankor at TFU.info

• Tankor (Happy Meal Toy, 2000)

One of nine Beast Machines Happy Meal toys from McDonald's restaurants, Tankor transforms into a small Cybertronic tank based a bit more on the show's CGI model. This toy features a fair bit of articulation (about 8 points in robot mode), though some points are more useful than others. His head articulation, for example, is quite nice. The toy also has lightpiping through the spark and missile rack on his belly.

• Tankor (Little Red Rooster Meal, 2001)

These are awesome. There should be Tank Drone redecos in these colors.

The Happy Meal toy was retooled and redecoed for release in Australia, through the Red Rooster fast food chain. Aside from the original coloration, this mold was also cast in the colors of the other three molds used by Red Rooster: Jetstorm, Megatron and Rattrap. The retooling involved removing (and plugging up) Tankor's light piping, meaning that his neck is no longer translucent plastic. Due to the softer plastic used to construct him it can be difficult to get Red Rooster Tankor's arms to come out.

• More information on McDonald's/Red Rooster Tankor at TFU.info

• Vehicon Tankor (Basic, March 26 2005)
  • Japanese ID number: BR-06
  • Accessories: "energy blast" missile

Released in the second wave of the Japanese Toys "R" Us exclusive Beast Wars Returns line (the Japanese name for Beast Machines), Tankor is a redeco of the Basic Tank Drone, transforming into a Cybertronic four-tracked tank. Pressing the spark crystal on his cannon connects a gear-wheel system on the underside of his tank mode, spinning his barrel as he is pushed along, eventually firing a spring-loaded "energy blast" missile.

Although the Beast Wars Returns line's aim was show-accuracy, this toy's coloration is more accurate to the Tank Drones rather than Tankor (which is ironic, given that the American Tank Drone is colored like Tankor). It even has the Tank Drones' green headlights rather than Tankor's standard yellow.

It is highly (in fact, almost perfectly) show-accurate to the Tank Drones, although woefully out of scale with the other Beast Machines toys. Like the rest of the line, actually...

This mold was also used to make Stockade.

• More information on Beast Wars Returns Tankor at TFU.info

Universe (2003)

File:Universe2003toy-TankorObsidian.jpg

We never actually met before, but here we are!

• Tankor & Obsidian (Ultra, 2003)
  • Accessories: Projectile

Part of the first wave of Universe Ultra sets, Tankor is a redeco of the original Mega toy in an olive-green and mustard-yellow coloration with "energon surge" paint on various parts. He retains all of the gimmickry of the original toy. He was only available in an Ultra-level two-pack with Obsidian.

• More information on Universe Tankor at TFU.info

Generations

"Tankor, smashing!"

• Tankor (Deluxe, 2014)
  • Series / Number: 02 / #015
  • Accessories: Missile

Part of the ninth wave of 2012-onwards Generations Deluxe Class toys, Thrilling 30 Tankor is a brand-new mold that is accurate to his cartoon appearance in robot mode. In both robot mode and tank mode, he has a firing missile that is launched when the cannon barrel is pulled back. Some versions of this figure have two left elbows, preventing him from transforming into vehicle mode.

He comes with a copy of "No Exit: Dark Cybertron Chapter 6," which places its pages massively out of order.

• More information on Generations Tankor at TFU.info

Legends

• Tankor (Deluxe, 11-29-2014)
  • ID number: LG03

Legends Tankor is a redeco of Generations Tankor with some slight changes in hues and more silver paint. He comes with a leaflet featuring a character profile, tech specs and volume 3 of the Transformers Legends Comic: Bonus Edition mini-comic.

Merchandise

Robot Heroes

An adorable little fascist!

• Cheetor vs. Tankor (2009)

Tankor is part of the fourth wave of Universe Robot Heroes and is designated as from the "Beast Machines Series," along with his packmate Cheetor. His sculpt is derived from his television show appearance, but his colorscheme is taken from the Tank Drone toy. Tankor has articulation at the neck and shoulders, though his left arm doesn't have good clearance with his hip.

Rather than using the Beast Machines Maximal and Vehicon symbols, the embossed faction logos on the top of the Cheetor/Tankor packaging are the pre-existing Beast Wars Maximal and Predacon symbols found on Beast Wars-themed Universe Robot Heroes packs.

• More information on Robot Heroes Tankor at TFU.info

Notes

• According to Beast Machines DVD commentary by Story Editor Bob Skir, Tankor is influenced by the Hulk.
• Rhinox is the only one of the original Vehicon generals who doesn't enjoy the persona and escapades of his alias.
• Skir's original intention was that Rhinox had "seen all sides of the argument, and chose to go more in Megatron's direction" in Beast Machines, and that after a quiet chat, he and Optimus would part company. As Richard Newman played that scene with growling and shouting, Rhinox instead sounded not quite in his right mind after his experiences.
• For the Japanese dub, any ambiguity or mystery surrounding Tankor's previous life was eliminated, as he spoke with Rhinox's vocal tic of ending sentences in "-dana". This was done to absolute excess, as entire lines of dialogue would be replaced with Tankor screaming "DANADANADANADANADANADANAAAAA!"

Foreign names

• Japanese: Tankor (タンカー Tankā)
• Mandarin: Tank (坦克 Taiwan, T^hǎn-k^hè; China, Tǎnkè)