Minerva (G1 robot)

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

• Human
• Robot

Minerva is an Autobot from the Generation 1 continuity family.

Minerva (ミネルバ Mineruba) is either a former Transtector who gained life from and independently of her former owner, Minerva, via the power of Masterforce, or a normal Cybertronian. Either way, she has great skills in medicine.

Fiction

Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity

Super-God Masterforce cartoon

The Transtector that would become Minerva was manufactured by the Autobots of Master under Chromedome's eye, to allow the humans of Earth to defend their planet against the Decepticons if needed. When the human Minerva and her friends requested to join the battle, Metalhawk granted the children their wish in the form of Master-Braces and the Headmaster Junior Transtectors. With her Transtector, Minerva participated in the epic war against the Decepticons led by Devil Z. Birth! Headmaster Jrs

In the wake of Devil Z's destruction, the bond between the Autobot humans and their Transtectors was broken, and Minerva became a normal kid again as her now-living Transtector and those of all the other Autobots headed into space to continue the fight against the Decepticons. A Battle... and Then...

Legends comic

The living Transtector, having taken its partner's name for its own, came to be stationed at G Nebula 89. In 2021, Minerva watched on as Grand Maximus unveiled the "Super Convoy Project", a new body in which a resurrected Optimus Prime would occupy. LG24 Shockwave & Cancer Prologue She was later present to defend the transtector factory when Overlord and his forces attacked. Bonus Edition Vol. 39 She worked with Perceptor to upgrade Godbomber's armor plating, Late Xmas Present Chapter and came with him to the Legends World where she helped save him from Katsu Don's clutches. Bonus Edition Vol. 56 She was defeated by Katsu Don when he returned to steal the Targetmasters Perceptor was working on. Legends World in Imminent Danger! Part One

Victory cartoon

Voice actor: Tomoko Maruo (Japanese)

Odds are, you only like two of these characters.

Several years later, when the living Transtector Ginrai was fatally wounded in battle with Decepticon leader Deathsaurus, Minerva was summoned to Earth along with Perceptor and Wheeljack for medical support. Unfortunately, it was soon determined that nothing could be done for Ginrai, save to rebuild him in an entirely new form. Ginrai Dies!! Using a design crafted by Autobot Supreme Commander Star Saber, Minerva, Wheeljack, and Perceptor rebuilt Ginrai as Victory Leo Fight!! Victory Leo and subsequently implanted a circuit in Star Saber's head that would allow him and Victory Leo to combine. Awaken! Victory Leo Perceptor was wary of the strain on Star Saber's body when the combination was first used, but when Minerva pressed him for details, he assured her everything would turn out fine. The Tide Is Turned! The Ultimate Weapon, the Victory Unification

Metrowars

Following a devastating attack by Metrotitan, Minerva, with the help of Glit, rebuilt Manta Ray from his Master Class body into a new body, sans Energon Matrix. She filled Manta Ray into what was happening with Metroplex after Metrotitan's attack. Metrowars

Train Wars

Minerva was at G Nebula 89 with Cab when the Second Army came under attack by Darkwings, Black Shadow, and Blue Bacchus, who sought out the transtector factory. Minerva called out to their commander, Goshooter, to help, and he sent the Decepticons fleeing with the power of his partner, Shūta Gō. Afterwards, though, Minerva found herself annoyed at the two's constant attempts to one-up each other. Train Wars: Goshooter & Shūta Gō Chapter

Super-God Masterforce comic

Minerva and her friends were recruited by Metalhawk to fight Devil Z's Decepticons. After a period of intensive training, they were given Master-Braces and Transtectors, becoming Headmaster Juniors. The Birth of the Junior Headmasters

Later, the death of Devil Z caused the bond between the humans and their Transtectors to be broken, and Minerva became a normal kid again as her now-living Transtector and those of all the other Autobots headed into space to continue the fight against the Decepticons. The Birth of the Super Life-Forms

Kre-O online comic

When Wheeljack's new invention "Skeletron" gave Optimus Prime a new see-through torso, Minerva blushed at just how embarrassing the look was. Wheeljack's Bizarre Invention! Optimus Power Up!? She apparently treated Red Alert after a roof collapsed on him. Dive Into the Fire! The Rescue Operation of Friendship

2019 IDW continuity

Minerva was chief medic for the Wreckers, a covert insertion unit posing as a traveling stunt show. Because she was not a participant in their broadcasts, Minerva often served as pilot for their ship, the Stuntmaster. The Wreckers were drawn to Velocitron after a terrorist cell called Mayhem interrupted one of their broadcasts to threaten the upcoming Speedia 500 race. Tread & Circuits Part 1 During recon before the race, Minerva monitored the Ascenticon racer Knock Out for Mayhem sympathies, but was only able to conclusively determine he was an arrogant twit. Their surveillance was interrupted when the Wreckers' cameraman Circuit spotted Mayhem in the city, but was shot down before he could do more. Minerva found him in a bad state and barely managed to get Circuit stabilized back on the Stuntmaster. Tread & Circuits Part 2

Mayhem attacked during the race, causing several deaths. While most of the Wreckers were on the speedway, Minerva and the medics were pulled back by Security Operations during the commotion. Tread & Circuits Part 3 During the closing ceremonites at the Velocitronian Senate days later, Minerva spotted Submarauder of Mayhem making his way towards the balconies. She tried to intervene when he fired a harpoon gun at the new First Senator, Knock Out. Minerva tried to pursue the assassin, but Submarauder abandoned his Pretender shell and left it behind to detonate with hidden explosives. Minerva was disoriented by the blast and found by Security Operations clutching the assassin's weapon. She was arrested under suspicion of attempted murder. Thunderclash and Minerva agreed to let Sec-Ops sort out the problem, letting the Wreckers leave Velocitron to maintain their cover. However, Minerva soon learned Mayhem and Sec-Ops had been in cahoots with the Ascenticons from the start. Knock Out's victory and rise to power had been deliberately orchestrated, and he sentenced Minerva to indefinite stasis once the Wreckers cleared out. Tread & Circuits Part 4

Toys

Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers

The three vehicle-mounted weapons fire aspirin, we promise.

• Minelba [sic] (Headmaster Junior, 1988)

• ID number: C-303
• Accessories: Transtector, seat/helmet, left & right "Shock Blasters", "Shock Gun"
• Known designers: Tetsuya Ikeda (TakaraTomy), Ban Magami (concept artist)

Minerva's Transtector is referred to as an ambulance, but let's be honest—it's a Porsche 959 with an emergency rescue color scheme that wouldn't likely be very useful in transporting patients around. The roof is hinged and can be opened to reveal an interior cockpit that Minerva herself can sit inside of; the prominent hinge itself is rather cleverly disguised as a lightbar, something that Minerva's American mold-partner, Nightbeat, lacks. Her Shock Blasters plug in just above the vehicle's headlights, while her larger Shock Gun can be plugged onto the roof.

In robot mode, Minerva's cockpit seat becomes a helmet, into which the small Shock Blasters plug as antennae. Like all Headmaster toys, Minerva has a flip-down panel on her chest which covers a spring-loaded mini-Tech-Spec-meter which gives readings for Speed, Strength and Intelligence. The tumblers are activated when Minerva (or any other Headmaster unit) is plugged into the neck socket. Minerva has her robot mode face plainly visible on her back because, as a smaller Headmaster toy, she lacks the flip down panel that covers the face featured on larger Headmasters. As another consequence of being a smaller Headmaster, Minerva's chest cavity was apparently too small for 3 individual tumblers. As a result, all Headmaster heads inserted will display her pre-molded (and painted) Speed, Strength, and Intelligence readings (7, 5, 8) on one large sliding plate.

As noted above, Minerva shares a mold with the American Headmaster Nightbeat, but it is unclear which character came first in the design process.

• More information on Minerva at TFU.info

Not-Beat.

• Minerva Night Beat (Headmaster Junior, 1988)

• Accessories: Transtector, seat/helmet, left & right Shock Blasters, Shock Gun
• Known designers: Tetsuya Ikeda (TakaraTomy)

Essentially just a Japanese release of Hasbro's Nightbeat toy, this version of the Minerva toy was only available by mail order, for the price of 1800 yen and four Robot Points. It is unknown if this version of the toy came in a simple mailer box or in Hasbro packaging.

• More information on Minerva Night Beat (well, Nightbeat) at TFU.info

Legacy

She may not be a Headmaster anymore, but at least this one won't cost you three grand.

• Autobot Minerva (Deluxe Class, 2022)

• Accessories: Twin Energon blasters, lightbar
• Known designers: Mark Maher (Hasbro), Ittoku Kuwazu (TakaraTomy)

Legacy Deluxe Class Minerva is a retool of Legacy Elita-1, transforming into the same Cybertronian buggy, swapping Elita-1's vehicle-mode accessory for an ambulance lightbar. She has a new head, but sadly is no longer a Headmaster—designer Mark Maher rationalised this by saying she lost the ability while travelling through the portal to the Legacy universe. What exactly this means for her human pilot is probably best not dwelt upon.

As with Elita-1, her backpack kibble can optionally be bunched together behind her torso for a sleeker look—albeit one less accurate to her Super-God Masterforce appearance. Her weapons are the same as Elita-1's, both cast in translucent white plastic; the blaster based on Minerva's original weapon is painted black, while the one based on Elita-1's is left clear. As a result, her windshield (which shares the same sprue) is cast in clear plastic as well, then tinted blue to match her character design better. Maher's sample has paint applications that are not present on the final toy: silver headlights and red tail lights. Unusually for a Generations figure released since 2014, she does not have a flight stand port. Like Elita-1, Minerva can be prone to have loose ankles.

Minerva's toy was revealed months before her actual release, in IDW Publishing's Tread & Circuits comic book. Officially exclusive to Walgreens in the United States, this figure was reportedly found at a single Walmart store in the United States before any official announcement from Hasbro. Subsequently, the figure was stocked by online retailer In Demand Toys in the United Kingdom, and then released in Canada, where it was exclusive to GameStop. Hasbro finally officially acknowledged her existence during a fan media roundtable on October 20, 2022, and she went up for order on Hasbro Pulse one week later following the 1027 Hasbro Pulse Premium Event. There was also an alleged purchase of the figure at a Target store from around the same time. The figure was finally found at Walgreens stores in December 2022, following hot on the trail of what was supposed to be the previous year's Walgreens exclusive, Kingdom Red Alert. Like many Walgreens exclusives, distribution was spotty in some parts of the US, mainly due to many individual stores choosing to reduce their toy selection for lack of sales.

This mold was further retooled to make Strongarm. Her guns and lightbar were recolored and included with Medix.

• Mark Maher's designer commentary on Legacy Autobot Minerva

Merchandise

Super Collection Figure

I will NOT make the Knee Test!

• Minerva (2001)
  • ACT: 2
  • Accessories: Stand

A PVC figurine of Minerva, based on her robot mode character model, was available in the second "act" of Takara's Super Collection Figure line. Her simple assembly gives her some limited articulation, with swivels at the neck, shoulders and forearms.

Like all the figures in the act, she was available as both a standard full-color figure, and as a colorless clear plastic version, one of each in a case of twelve blind-packed PVCs.

Notes

Probably buddies with Ariel Paradron-Type.

• Upon her release, Minerva was the first female Transformer toy. Many years later, though, her position would be retroactively usurped when Freezon was retconned into being female.
• Although Minerva's Transtector doesn't have room to ferry patients like a real ambulance would (which is what it's referred to being as), it would qualify as a fly-car due to it having a faster response time to emergencies (and saving ambulance resources if the situation is minor).
• Minerva's color scheme was used for the DVD-exclusive "White Version" redeco of Cybertron Thunderblast.
• Like all non-toy robot Kreons in the Kre-O manga, Minerva is made from existing Kre-O parts. She uses the ever-popular Hound helmet, though it's a little hard to tell just what she has attached to her arms due to the small size of the comic.

Foreign names

• English: Nightbeat (Omni Productions dub)
• Italian: Phantom
• Russian: Vetochka (Веточка, "Tree Branch")
• Spanish: Cher (America)