Tigatron (BW)

This article is about the prominent Beast Wars character. For the Playskool Go-Bot, see Tigertron.

Tigatron is a Maximal from the Beast Wars portion of the Generation 1 continuity family. He was previously designated Unit 2.

I must kill you... because God told me to!

Damage to his stasis pod upon crashing to Earth caused Tigatron to emerge far more tiger than robot. A loner who is more connected to the Earth than any other Beast Warrior, he enjoys the planet's natural beauty and is often concerned about the damage that the Transformers' battle is doing to it. Scout, infiltrator, and sometimes programming guru, Tigatron has filled a variety of roles for the Maximals.

“	We were given a paradise! All we had to do was live there in peace. But we proved unworthy... and the paradise is no more.	”
—Tigatron, "The Trigger, Part 2"

Chinese name (Taiwan): Lǎo-hǔ (老虎, "Tiger") / Bái Hǔ (白虎, "White Tiger")

Spanish name: Tigretron

Polish name: Tygrytron

Portuguse name (Brazil): Tigertron

Fiction

First Wave Toy Bio

A powerful and fearless warrior, Optimus Primal appointed Tigatron to patrol the nothern polar sector, where he roams in his beast mode. When he encounters Predacon activity, he is capable of transforming rapidly and reconfiguring his titanium tail into a powerful quasar cannon, which he then uses to vaporize his enemies! Additionally, he sports a toxic fluid blaster, which renders any body struck by it completely useless. Tigatron bio

The on-package bios of the first wave of Beast Wars toys, predate the development of the Beast Wars cartoon and its backstory. They seem to present the characters as a direct continuation of the previous Autobot/Decepticon conflict, with Optimus Primal actually being a new form of Optimus Prime and Megatron being his Generation 1 counterpart, and their battles taking place on present day, human-inhabited Earth, rather than in the distant past. Once the cartoon launched, the toyline adjusted itself to match that continuity instead, relegating this one to an aborted micro-continuity.

Cartoon continuity

Dawn of Future's Past

He wasn't even supposed to be here today!

Tigatron was once known as Unit 2, part of the Maximal Command Security Force which protected the fragile peace that existed on Cybertron in the centuries following the Pax Cybertronia. One of the Security Force's elite troops, Unit 2 was often put in charge of guarding important Maximal artifacts, a job that often required his amazing prowess at tracking. Despite his strong command of this environment, Unit 2 wondered if his destiny and place was elsewhere.

When the Golden Disk was stolen by a band of rogue Predacons, Unit 2 responded along with Unit 1, Nitrostreak. After Nitrostreak was incapacitated, Unit 2 attempted to follow the Darksyde by commandeering the Chromia 10, pursuing, along with its pilot. During the ensuing firefight, their ship was badly damaged. Optimus Primal had their sparks remotely uploaded to blank protoforms in the Axalon's cargo hold, which saved their lives, but severely damaged their core mainframes. Dawn of Future's Past

This story is a retcon, as Tigatron was originally treated as a newborn protoform in the Beast Wars animated series. Instead, here he is revealed to have been a Maximal who existed previously on Cybertron but ended up on the Axalon in a stasis pod, damaged to the point of not remembering any of his past.

Beast Wars Cartoon

Voice actor: Blu Mankuma (English), Kōichi Tōchika (Japanese), Armando Tiraboschi (Portuguese)

This is a land of peace, and I will kill anyone who says otherwise!

Tigatron was born in the far frozen north, at first heavily damaged in his memory circuits and unable to remember friend from foe. In his beast mode, he patiently watched the Predacon and Maximal forces duke it out. When Megatron threatened the white tigers, and the Maximals conceded the fight, Tigatron knew his alliance. Fallen Comrades

His alliance established, Tigatron became a background player—feeling more at home as a tiger than a robot, he was allowed to remain in the wilds as a scout. He sent weekly updates to the Axalon through communication towers The Trigger, Part 1 and lending assistance to the Maximals when called upon (which, for a background scout agent, was quite often). He was rarely seen inside the Maximal base, regarding artificial environments as "strange", and preferred to act solo believing he hunted better alone—this sometimes meant he would need rescuing. Spider's Game

He and Cheetor held a strong sibling friendship. While Cheetor was youthful and eager, Tigatron was confident and wise. Cheetor called him "Big Cat" frequently.

He was the first to discover the Vok's flying island, and believed this area with its powerful death ray and many horrible death-traps to be a land of peace. He felt at home here and tried to protect it from the Predacons, and was enraged and horrified when the Beast Wars led to the island's destruction—by his own hand, after Blackarachnia warped it into a weapon. The Trigger, Part 1 The Trigger, Part 2

Being more at home with his beast mode than his robot mode, his help was invaluable when the Maximals were left stuck in beast mode and overpowered by animal instincts. He helped them learn to work with these instincts instead of struggling for dominance. Call of the Wild

A cat and bird fall for each other. Love is truly blind.

Tigatron had an organic tiger friend named Snowstalker, who may or may not have been the basis for his altmode. Some fans have speculated that the pair were more than friends, as the dumb stubbies say. Sadly, Snowstalker became one of the war's casualties, putting Tigatron in a funk for a short while, until he realized that doing nothing only meant more innocents would die. Law of the Jungle

Not much later, Tigatron was the first to detect a pulsing alien energy source. When Megatron initiated a somewhat suspicious truce shortly afterwards, Optimus Primal ordered a covert infiltration of the Predacon base. Rattrap and Airazor made enough of a distraction to allow Tigatron inside the Predacon base.

Inside, he hacked his way into the ship's computer systems and found out what had Megatron so worried—the Vok were coming back, and they weren't happy. Before the Storm Tigatron and the rest of the Maximals barely survived the subsequent attack of the alien Planet Buster.

Tigatron and Airazor formed a very powerful relationship during this time. They both felt a strong connection to the prehistoric Earth, and they frequently spent their time outside of the Maximal base in their beast forms instead. After the destruction of the Planet Buster sent dozens of stasis pods crashing to Earth, the pair set off on a voyage to find what had become of their Maximal comrades within the pods. Unfortunately, before they could discover any still-functional pods, they were abducted by a bizarre alien plant. Other Visits (Part 1)

The two were not seen again until much later, when their inert bodies were revealed to be the captives of the Vok, floating somewhere in a deep space nebula. The Vok removed their Sparks from their bodies, which were then fused into the awesomely powerful Vok emissary Tigerhawk. When the Vok influence was removed from Tigerhawk, the Sparks of Tigatron and Airazor likewise fused and entered the empty shell. Other Victories

Transformers Beast Wars: Transmetals Video Game

Voice actor: Scott McNeil (English), ??? (Japanese)

Tigatron is a hidden character in the Beast Wars Transmetals video game. His character model is a palette-swapped version of Transmetal Cheetor's body.

Tigatron's been dunked in bleach.

Beast Wars: Transmetals

3H comics

File:Primeval Tigatron.jpg

It's the "happy" equivalent of dull surprise!

Tigatron and Airazor's sparks were sent back to Earth by the Vok sometime after Tigerhawk's destruction. Tigatron's spark took possession of Ravage's former body at the bottom of a lake. Joining Transmetal Airazor and a newly-created Primal Prime, Primeval Dawn Part 1 Tigatron battled Tarantulas and Ravage, who had also managed to escape death. Primeval Dawn Part 2

The "Primeval Dawn" story was never finished, so how Tigatron came to join the Wreckers is unknown.

Tigatron, Primal Prime, and others arrived on Cybertron during Megatron's anti-biological reign. Various teams met with the Oracle, which assigned them various tasks. When Optimus Primal objected, saying that with all these soldiers, Megatron could be defeated easily, the Oracle swept him away and cleansed his memory of the recent events. Tigatron vehemently objected to this treatment of his former commander. A set of coordinates was infused into Primal Prime's head by the Oracle. When arriving at an Autobot shuttle, which was to ferry the Wreckers to those coordinates, Tigatron felt that something was amiss. It was then that the Vehicon generals Spy Streak, Scavenger, Quake and Blastcharge attacked. Tigatron used his Nature's Fury attack, utterly destroying Quake. During the ride in the Autobot shuttle, Tigatron meditated, recovering from the battle. Upon arrived at their destination, he once again sensed that danger awaited the Wreckers...Departure

Wreckers: Finale Part II

Beast Wars Metals comic

Let's hope Airazor doesn't find out about this.

Following the Quantum surge, Tigatron was separated from the other Maximals and left stranded somewhere on Energoa. Following Optimus Primal's rebirth and escape from Megatron, Airazor was left to sadly ponder where her "Tigatron-sama" was. Elsewhere on Energoa, Tigatron could be seen staring poetically at the moon. Raise the Curtain for Beast Wars Metals!!

At one point later, he was forced to do battle with the spark-less body of his beloved Airazor. Not wishing to harm her, he willingly let the evil Airazor take the opportunity to decapitate him. Just as evil Airazor began to strike, the spark of the real Airazor entered his body. In cyberspace, the two embraced each other and vowed never to be apart again. Their sparks then merged, resulting in the all-powerful Tigerhawk.

Toys

Beast Wars

Surprisingly not a case of yellowing.

• Tigatron (Deluxe, 1996/1997)
  • Japanese ID number: C-8
  • Accessories: Tail-gun, water-shooting gun

Part of the third wave of Hasbro Beast Wars Deluxes, the original Tigatron toy is a redeco of the original Cheetor toy in cream, silver, and green, transforming into a fairly generic big cat in shape. His robot-mode parts color layout is notably different from Cheetor's. In robot mode, he is armed with a rifle made out of his hindquarters and tail, along with a second water-squirting "gut gun" formed out of his stomach. This cannon is usable in both modes, but in beast mode, it's awkward and just plain weird. As with most early Beast Wars toys, he features a "mutant head" that replaces his face.

File:Tigatronbwtakara.jpg

Over time, this will yellow and become the Hasbro version.

The Takara version was released a year later, in a more show-accurate bright white color, with his paint applications directly copied from Cheetor's layouts just as the show model had done. This version also has slight mold tweak to keep the beast head pointed forward.

This mold was also used to make Shadow Panther and Tripredacus Agent. It was slated to be used for Universe Nightprowler, but that toy set was canceled.

• More information on Tigatron at TFU.info

Let's hope neither Airazor or Silverbolt find out about this...

• Deep Forest Showdown: Tigatron VS Blackwidow (VS set, 1997)
  • Japanese ID number: VS-8
  • Accessories: Tail-gun, water-shooting gun

In Japan, Tigatron was available both individually and in a two-pack with the Predacon Blackarachnia. Both toys are identical to their individual Japanese releases.

File:Tigatron2001 toy.jpg

You better watch out, Roy!

• Tigatron (Deluxe, 2001)
  • Accessories: Tail-whip, left & right pistol barrels

A BotCon 2001 exclusive, Transmetal Tigatron is a redeco of Beast Wars Metals Ravage, which is itself a retool of Transmetal Cheetor. He transforms into a mechanical cat with flip-out thruster-wings. His robot-mode arms have spring-loaded flip-out blaster grips, which also have barrel extensions that can be clipped to his legs in beast mode. His tail separates to become a whip weapon, but he doesn't hold it very well. His chest panels open up to reveal a decal; he also came with an extra decal sheet to display other options within his chest, plus Maximal and Wreckers faction symbol decals for extra customization.

The original version of this mold was slightly retooled to make Armada Cheetor. It was also used as the model for the non-toy character Cataclysm.

• More information on Transmetal Tigatron on TFU.info

Timelines

In recognition of his bravery in the field, Unit 2 was granted the MCSF's highest honor, Really Bitchin' Upholstery.

• Unit 2 (Tigatron) (Scout, 2006)
  • Accessories: Engine-blaster, left & right side-pipes, Maximal Golden Disk Key

A retooling of the Cybertron Clocker toy using "Axalon Cheetor"'s new headsculpt, "Unit 2" transforms into an open-topped Cybertronic sports car. Due to painted whiskers on his robot mode face that resemble a human mustache, Unit 2 is one of a small percentage of Transformers who feature facial hair. His rear engine assembly reveals a pair of spring-loaded flip-out guns when a Cyber Planet Key/Golden Disc Key is placed in it. This assembly becomes a hand-held blaster in robot mode. His side-pipes can also be removed and used as hand-weapons.

This toy was an "attendance exclusive" for BotCon 2006, available only to pre-registrants who actually showed up for the convention.

The original version of this mold was also used to make Cybertron Swerve, movie-verse Clocker, and was the basis for many non-toy members of the Maximal Command Security Force.

• More information on "Unit 2" at TFU.info

Beast Wars Telemocha Series

• Tigatron (Deluxe, 2007)
  • Japanese ID number: TM-11
  • Accessories: Tail-gun, water-shooting gun

The original Tigatron toy was given an extensive redeco using a ridiculous number of paint applications for his Beast Wars Telemocha Series release. He retains all of the gimmicks of the original version as well.

Included in the set is a DVD of Tigatron's debut episode, "Solitary Warrior Tigatron".

Device Label

• Tigatron (Device Label, 2009)

Despite appearances, he is NOT waving.

Device Label Tigatron transforms from a working USB 2 gigabyte thumb drive into a black mechanoid panther.

You can name him anything you want.

Stored on the USB drive is an installable program called "Transformers Desktop Defender." When the Tigatron device is plugged in, a Tigatron avatar appears on the screen, transforming from thumb drive to jaguar mode as the program is activated. The program's setup allows you to rename your jaguar to anything you desire, alter the avatar's movement speed and his personality, decide whether he eats your desktop icons, and view his function, mission, and tech spec numbers. Whether he appears as Ravage or Tigatron can be selected as well.

This mold was also used to make Device Label Ravage, and he came preloaded with the same program.

Merchandise

Robot Heroes

• Tigatron vs Inferno (2-pack, 2009)

It's Johnny the tackling Alzheimer's patient! "WWHO AM IIIIIiiiii?!" *fwump*

Part of the fifth wave of Universe Robot Heroes, Tigatron is a redeco of Robot Heroes Cheetor. He is painted in the original American toy's colors (being mostly pale yellow, with a silver face), and like Cheetor has articulation at the shoulders and neck. He comes packaged with Inferno.

The US release of this two-pack has been cancelled, but it has been found in Australasia (Hong Kong and Australia) and European (UK, Germany and Russia) markets.

• More information on Tigatron at TFU.info

Trivia

Tigatron's control art. Note the extensive retooling from Cheetor that never happened.

C-L-E-M-S-OH CRAP!

He's armed with a cryo-freeze beam and a deadly raspberry-blowing tongue.

• The original concept art for Tigatron, shown in the "Beast Wars Reborn Golden Disc", shows that he was originally intended to be a retooling of the mold, rather than a simple redeco, changing his beast-mode head and a lot of his robot-mode parts (yet not the face), as well as giving him some kind of horrible tumor gun. Obviously, this didn't happen.

• The Tigatron shown at Toy Fair in 1996 was cast in orange plastic instead of cream-colored, giving him a more "traditional" tiger look. The change to a "white" tiger has so far been unexplained.

• Tigatron's beast mode may well have been female. His template animal was female, and while wild felines have size differences between males and females Tigatron and Snowstalker were shown as being the same size; indeed, they were for all intents and purposes identical, such that Waspinator thought Snowstalker was Tigatron. (Though to be fair, Waspinator is not the brightest crayon in the box.)

• In the Japanese dub of Beast Wars, for the sake of humor, Tigatron was played as a "samurai" ronin. Additionally, since Airazor was made male in the Japanese dub, "he" was presented as Tigatron's ward whom he looked to as a "brother" (hence the close bond)... but this did not prevent the "wacky" dubbing from broadly hinting at homosexuality between the two, especially after the events of "Other Visits".

• An unused idea by Larry DiTillio was that the Vok ceased trying to destroy Earth because contact with Tigatron (after his abduction) made them question the morality of the tactic.

• Tigatron's role in the Beast Wars cartoon was originally intended for Wolfang.

• Tigatron's package art is one of a handful that features the toy's mutant head instead of the regular robot head, to rather hilarious effect.

• Tigatron's Japanese name was rendered as Tigertron on a trading card. Both English spellings are possible Romanizations of the Katakana.

• He has a stadium named after him.

• Cheetor and Tigatron are the only characters in Beast Wars who are definitely in the correct scale to the lifeform he has adopted as a beast mode, being seen nearby a real tiger.

External links

• Tigatron at TFU.info
• Tigatron's profile at BotCon.com