Flywheels

Flywheels is a Decepticon Duocon in the Generation 1 continuity family.

Howitzer'd!

Flywheels tries to keep it together and stay upbeat, he really does, but it's hard when your mind (and often your body) is literally divided in two. A split personality would be trouble enough, but to add injury to illness, Flywheel's two halves are very jealous of each other and basically hate each other's guts. They spend more time fighting one another than the Autobots. It doesn't matter whether they're unified in robot form or not, Flywheels's two halves go right on arguing, which can be disconcerting to others around him, to say the least.

Japanese name: Flywheel

Fiction

Marvel Comics continuity

Generation 1

Events from the UK-only comic stories are in italics.

Flywheels first appeared in a brief battle against Ultra Magnus and the Sparkabots. He was knocked out of the air by Ultra Magnus and was captured by the Autobots. As a prisoner, he was soon forced to fight with his captors against a horde of zombie Transformers in Kalis let loose by Flame. Flywheels disobeyed Ultra Magnus's order not to open fire on the zombots. City of Fear! While engaged in the fighting with the zombots, Ultra Magnus allowed Flywheels to go and get reinforcements, though he had little expectation of the Duocon's return. Surprisingly, Flywheels did come back with Trypticon to give the remaining zombots a good stomping. Meltdown!

Before...

...and after!

He later joined the Mayhem Attack Squad and took part in their joint attack with the Wreckers on Galvatron and Megatron. He was one of only three Mayhems to escape alive from the gruesome twosome's base, but was killed by Galvatron after the retreat to the Mayhems' spaceship. Time Wars

Although Flywheels' death is not shown, Galvatron grabs him by the right arm during his and Megatron's assault on the Mayhems' ship, and his corpse (with the right arm torn off at the shoulder) can be seen on the ground just before Rodimus Prime and the other Autobots intervene to save the remaining Wreckers and Mayhems. It's pretty clear what happened off-panel.

Cartoon continuity

Generation 1 cartoon

Flywheels doesn't exactly appear in any episode. However, because footage from his commercial was used in the opening credits of The Rebirth episodes, he technically is in the cartoon.

The Headmasters cartoon

Voice actor: Yūki Satō (Japan)

What is this ominous light that threatens to engulf us?

Flywheels, alongside Battletrap, worked under Scorponok, who first sent them into battle when the Autobots and Decepticons were fighting over a disk containing data on the Master Sword. The Duocons' double amount of vehicle modes was enough to overwhelm the Autobot Targetmasters, and the Decepticons quickly grabbed the disk and retreated. The Master Sword Is in Danger!! Flywheels soon appeared again to defend Scorponok as he used the disk's data to manufacture the Zarak Shield. The Zarak Shield Turns the Tide

The Duocons' next mission was to hide a time bomb on the asteroid Juno, so that Scorponok could blow up Sixshot and Chromedome when the two arrived for their duel. Duel on the Asteroid Flywheels later participated in the climactic battle against the Autobots at the North Pole and retreated into space when Scorponok put his plan to destroy the Earth into motion. The Final Showdown on Earth (Part 2)

Toys

Generation 1

File:G1Flywheels toy.jpg

"Hey, you know what they say about guys with big feet, right?"

• Flywheels (Duocon, 1987)
  • Japanese ID number: D-97
  • Accessories: Gun

Flywheels's robot mode is made from the combination of a maroon F-4 Phantom II fighter jet and a brown self-propelled howitzer of vague origin that make up his alternate mode. His only articulation is the up and down movement of his arms at the shoulder, and his only accessory is a maroon rifle.

Notes

• The lack of wheels on Flywheels's alternate mode(s) has led to speculation that he and Battletrap may have swapped names during production.

External links

• Flywheels at TFU.info