Guardian robot

Guardian robots are a type of Transformer from the Generation 1 portion of the continuity family of the same name.

SUMO!

The Guardian robots were once the peacekeepers of Cybertron, powerful giants that guarded cities and quelled uprisings. The Guardians gave the Decepticons much trouble at the outbreak of the Third Cybertronian War, but by the modern era they were no longer so prevalent.

The most notable surviving Guardian is Omega Supreme, who is the only one seen to have his own name, distinct color scheme, and personality; it is unknown how unique these qualities actually are.

Japanese name: GADEP (Groundling Auto-Destruct Powerbroker)

Fiction

Generation 1 cartoon

Megaman really let himself go.

When the Quintessons ruled over Cybertron, they employed Dark Guardians against the growing Autobot insurgency. Forever Is a Long Time Coming By the time of the Golden Age millions of years later, the Autobots themselves were using their own Guardian robots (visually identical to the Dark Guardians except for their colors) to maintain supremacy. When Megatron's uprising began, his troops feared the giant enforcers, but in time they eventually fell before the Decepticon onslaught. War Dawn

One tool Megatron used in his strategy was the Robo-Smasher, a brainwashing device. He used it to turn the Constructicons to his side, then he had them destroy Crystal City. The city's Guardian, Omega Supreme, was heartbroken and enraged by this betrayal, especially because he had been friends with the Constructicons. He tracked them down and reprogrammed them to be free of the Robo-Smasher's influence, but he was not thorough enough. They feigned rehabilitation, but only long enough to lure Omega into a trap. Megatron had given them a combiner mode, Devastator, which they used to pin Omega against a wall while the Robo-Smasher pounced on him. The Guardian was able to destroy the machine, but it left him a taciturn, vengeance-driven shell of his former self. The Secret of Omega Supreme

Millions of years later, after escaping an Autobot attack on their time machine facility, some Decepticons found the remains of the decapitated Guardian robot. Skywarp said that it gave him the creeps, and Thundercracker remarked on how the Guardians had given them a pounding in the old days. Shockwave repaired the giant and send it to battle against the Autobots, lamenting that the lack of a head would limit its maneuverability. Nevertheless, it was a formidable foe for Optimus Prime and his small team; the tide was only turned with the arrival of the Aerialbots. The Guardian was able to put up a strong fight against Superion at first, but the combiner eventually destroyed it. War Dawn

E-Hobby pack-in comic

Megatron and his Silver Soldiers had just successfully invaded Sectors 2, 4 and 6, killing as many Autobot civilians as possible. Megatron began to remark how easy things were proceeding, when all his soldier units began reporting sightings of a terrifying figure before their communications were cut off.

As Megatron began to wonder what they were talking about, he soon came face to face with the Guardian Robot that was single-handedly destroying entire units of Silver Soldiers; its firepower impossible to evade. 64 Cybertron Urban Defense Robot GADEP

Dreamwave comics continuity

*sigh* "I really got to get that transfer to Earth."

Known as Omega Sentinels, these massive mechanoids were seen guarding various strategically vital locations in Iacon. During the Decepticon attack on Iacon, they were among the first and last lines of defense standing between the Decepticons and the Decagon. The War Within issue 4 Despite their power, the Omega Sentinels began to fall under the Decepticon onslaught over time, with deactivated Sentinels littering the Iacon landscape. Shockwave managed to kill two Omega Sentinels during the battle.

With one shot. The War Within issue 5

During the Dinobots' rampage on Iacon, Shockwave activated the Sentinels to stop them, brushing aside the trappings of peaceful coexistence and instituting marital law. Passive Aggression The Autobot insurrection began in full force after that, with Optimus Prime leading the various splinter units into battle. United as one, the Autobots fought their way through the Omega Sentinels and Shockwave's loyal Decepticons, reclaiming Cybertron in the name of peace. Countdown to Extinction Revelation

Toys

Generation 1

File:Ehobby City Guardian Toy.JPG

The most expensive army-builder ever?

• GADEP (2008)
  • Japanese ID number: 64
  • Accessories: 2 small shields, 2 medium shields, 2 large shields, 4 armour halves (A, B, C, D), 4 ankle half (E, F, G, H), 2 feet, backpack, 4 tracks (J, K, L, M)

An e-Hobby exclusive, this toy is a redeco of the Generation 1 Omega Supreme toy. Using the same tooling as the Encore reissue Omega, this toy features the same retooled head.

The Guardian transforms into three individual components simultaneously: a large rocket base, a rocket and a tank. The Guardian robot involves next to no actual manipulation of the parts, "transforming" instead by being disassembled into its component pieces, which are then put back together in a different configuration.

The Guardian's distinctive forearms (left large cannon and right large, three-fingered claw) disconnect from their arms at the elbow and plug together end-on-end to form the rocket. Its legs are comprised of quite a few independent parts; the outer casing of each one is a "shell" made up of two pieces held together by three sliding blue clips, concealing two further "shell" pieces which clip around the leg proper and are held together by its feet. All of these parts are removed and reassembled to form the "core" of the rocket base, which is completed with the addition of the Guardian's backpack and feet as a gantry for the rocket to stand astride, and its wings (made up of six individual pieces themselves, which can be assembled in various configurations) as an ovular track that encircles the whole affair. This leaves the Guardian's torso, which then undergoes some actual transformation to become a tank that rests on the track. The torso features a battery-operated motor which propels the tank around the track as its turret spins and flashes with orange light, or allows the Guardian to walk (very slowly) forward in robot mode.

Notes

• Although no toy of the Guardian robots was made during the original Generation 1 toyline, they are clearly a slightly more Dery-ized, chubbier version of Omega Supreme. E-Hobby capitalized on this similarity by releasing an Omega Supreme redeco as a Guardian over twenty years later, though it is unknown if the Guardians in the cartoon were actually capable of transforming, as the toy does.