Peguinis

Peguinis is a Beastformer from the Beastformers portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.

Are... are you sure you're a penguin?

Peguinis (ペギニス Peginisu) isn't one for combat. He's not a fighter, he's a researcher. A former student of Udan, he's more than happy to spend all his time in a lab or library, learning and experimenting. Even as the Emperor-penguin (ha ha) of Johnston, he's usually got his beak buried in a book, working hard. Luckily, this meshes well with King Zebra Ball's meticulous, cautious and curious manner.

He does have one method of protecting himself, and it's a doozy. His MVP Weapon, the Freeze Dryer (フリーズドライヤー Furīzu Doraiyā), can turn objects super-super-super-cold. It doesn't just freeze things, it can drop their temperature to just a few fractions of a degree above absolute zero, effectively disintegrating them at a molecular level. Yikes. Fortunately, he's reluctant to ever use it at its full power, but the very threat of using such a weapon tends to keep him safe.

Toys

Transformers: Beastformers

• Peguinis (Beastformer, 1987)
  • Beast ID number: 75
  • Accessories: Spear

Part of the third series of Takara's Beastformers toys, Peguinis is an anthropomorphic emperor penguin in blue robotic armor. The rubsign on his chest reveals one of three symbols; Fire, Water or Wood.

He came in a green-grid generic "Cybertron Beastformer" box, with a bio card with a line-art character image first used in Hasbro's Battle Beasts cast poster (rather than the painted images of the prior two series). Depending on the "Pack" he came in, there was a chance of his bio card being replaced with a rare "Secret Photo", "Bewitching Serpent Seal", or "VS Holography Mirror" card.

Beastformers

• Peguinis (Beastformer, 1988)
  • Beast ID number: 75
  • Accessories: "Freeze Dryer" MVP Weapon

Re-released in the Transformers-less Beastformers sequel series, Peguinis was given a straight re-release with new packaging and a new, more filled-out bio card with corrected coloring. This new card also gave his weapon, now branded an "MVP Weapon", the name "Freeze Dryer".

He was sold in two similar-but-different styles of boxes. One wholly-generic version, sold in large display boxes like the Transformers releases, advertised the chance for the included bio card to instead be a rare holofoil card of White Leo with a "Burstsun" rubsign in a baggie taped to the back, so you could apply it to the Beastformer of your choice. The more common version has a slightly different box with a peg-hole in the top flap, and has a sticker on the bottom with his name and role on it.

Late 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.)

Notes

• Peguinis's 1987 character art (seen at top) incorrectly gives him a silver weapon. His recolored 1988 art corrects this mistake.
• His '88 bio card gives him the nickname "Peggy" (ペギー Pegī), and notes he was born on Johnston's southern coast.

Foreign names

• English: Pugnacious Penguin