Armorhide (RID)

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

Armorhide is a Decepticon from the Robots in Disguise continuity family.

"Damn it, Lupin!"

Armorhide is a member of the Commandos, the team that combines into Ruination. Like your typical weapon-wielding army vehicle, he favors active aggression over elaborate planning. He is often partnered with the comparatively more easy-going Rollbar.

After battle, he looks forward to a nice sand bath.

Japanese name: Dangar (ダンガー Dangā)

Fiction

Robots in Disguise cartoon

Voice actor: Richard Epcar (English), Takayuki Kondō (Japanese)

"Why no, I've never seen David Cronenberg's Crash. Why do you ask?"

Armorhide was originally one of a group of Autobots led by Scourge, who traveled to Earth in a protoform state. Their ship crashed, and years later was dug up by a group of Predacons under Megatron's leadership. Taken to McKinley Army Base, the Predacons scanned army vehicles as Megatron infused them with his spark energy. For Armorhide, Slapper scanned a tank, claiming it would make a great Decepticon. Though the newly born-Decepticons were ready to fight, Megatron ordered them to retreat so they could re-power. The Decepticons The new troops' first mission was to destroy a dam, giving Armorhide the chance to use his plasma mortars. They planted pulsar bombs on Sherman Dam, however when Sky-Byte took control of the bombs, preventing them from firing, Mega-Octane, Armorhide and Rollbar blasted a hole in the dam. This released the Autobot Brothers from their watery prison, and Armorhide ended up tussling with Side Burn. The subsequent arrival of Team Bullet Train and their combination into Rail Racer led the Commandos to undergo their first merging into Ruination, but the combined power of the Autobots was too much for them and they beat a hasty retreat. Commandos

The Commandos unsuccessfully fought against the Spy Changers on Montrose Island Volcano after which they substituted Movor for a real space shuttle, shooting the Decepticon into orbit so he could try to find the Autobots' secret base. The most Armorhide found during the search was a comb and an old cola bottle. The Commandos were eventually lured to Pier 7B, where the Autobots sprung a trap. Armorhide suggested forming Ruination, missing the fact that Movor was still in space, and things subsequently didn't go too well. Attack from Outer Space

The next cunning plan was to try to make the Autobots think that the Decepticons were defecting. The Autobot Brothers tested them by forcing them to do various menial tasks, which they threw themselves into in an attempt to lull the Autobots into a false sense of security. Armorhide went along with it, complaining whenever he felt he could get away with it, but at the last minute, Scourge snapped, giving the game away and resulting in Optimus Prime chasing the Decepticons off. The Test

Scourge, Mega-Octane, Armorhide and Rollbar attacked a power plant, only for Sky-Byte and his three sidekicks to show up disguised as Autobots. Armorhide used his armor blast on Sky-Byte, setting the Predacon alight, but the Decepticons didn't have as much luck against the real Autobots. Attacks at several other power plants didn't go much better, despite Megatron lending a hand. The Fish Test The Decepticons later interrupted one of Sky-Byte's plans, and obtained a disk which appeared to be a map to the Global Space Bridge system. Unfortunately when they used it, it turned out to be a map of the local sewer system, and the Decepticons found themselves on the business end of Optimus's blizzard storm. Wedge's Short Fuse

When once again, X-Brawn slipped through the Decepticons' fingers using the Global Space Bridge, Armorhide complained that they really needed to find a way to blow it up. They eventually did find the control center for the space bridge, and Armorhide was ready to go in and trash the place, but Scourge decided to go with Rollbar's plan to sabotage the controls instead. Soon Armorhide and the other Commandos were causing havoc across Metro City in a attempt to lure the Autobots into using the space bridge. The Build Team soon realised what had happened, defeated the Commandos and repaired the space bridge. Landfill Later the Decepticons attempted to intercept Optimus Prime, who they believed was taking the O-Parts to Sky-Byte, however even combining into Ruination didn't help them and the Autobot leader once again defeated them. Sky-Byte Saves the Day

Stompy stompy!

After their raid on the East Power Station was foiled by the Build Team, the Commandos resolved to get their revenge on the Autobots. To this end, they started attacking construction sites in an attempt to goad the Build Team into fighting them. Armorhide appeared to take particular relish in stomping on construction machinery. Eventually they drew the Build Team out and were able to dominate them in combat, at least until Landfill led Ruination into an oil-filled cavern and ignited it, blasting the Commandos into the ocean. A Test of Metal

A later raid on an oil refinery went better—while the Autobot Brothers did turn up, they were prevented from stopping the Decepticons by the arrival of Ultra Magnus. Still, the Decepticons only got a portion of the fuel and, at Megatron's orders, set up a trap for the Autobot Brothers. Instead they got Ultra Magnus, whose fighting skills outclassed theirs. Even forming Ruination didn't help, and the Decepticons were forced into a retreat with the arrival of Optimus Prime. Ultra Magnus Back in the Megastar, they watched the fight between Optimus and Ultra Magnus, as Movor spied on it from orbit. When Megatron demand to know why the Decepticons hadn't been able to defeat Prime, Scourge claimed that a recurring problem was Armorhide's periodic inability to fly. Though Optimus lost, he was taken by the other Autobots to an island to recuperate, and Megatron and his troops went there to finish the job. Despite the Commandos forming Ruination, they were no match for Omega Prime, the combined form of Optimus and Ultra Magnus, and retreated hastily. Ultra Magnus: Forced Fusion!

Some time later, the Decepticons were able to take the Autobot Brothers captive, allowing the Decepticons and Megatron to inflict some punishment on Optimus and Rail Racer, who were unable to fight back. Unfortunately Ultra Magnus rescued the three brothers, and Megatron's forces were soon in retreat once again. The Two Faces of Ultra Magnus Scourge attempted to get Ultra Magnus to join him in destroying Optimus, but Magnus turned him down, resulting in the Decepticons springing a trap on the Autobot. Though Side Burn and Prowl attempted to help Magnus, the renegade Autobot promptly left them to it, and they were little match for Ruination. Of course, the arrival of Optimus and return of Magnus turned things pretty firmly back in the Autobots' favour, and the Decepticons retreated once again. Power to Burn!

More information was gleaned from the captured Doctor Onishi's mind—there were strange ruins beneath Metro City which emanated powerful energy. The Decepticons set out to find the ruins and promptly ran into the Spy Changers. Armorhide and Rollbar were left to do battle and easily dispatched the six Autobots, before rejoining the other Decepticons in a tunnel dug by the Build Team. As they neared the source of the power, Rollbar started hallucinating that Armorhide was Sky-Byte, which seemed to irritate Armorhide no end. Finally they reached the ruins, and combined into Ruination to fight the Autobots. Fortress Maximus Chased off by Fortress Maximus's defense systems, the Commandos formed Ruination to keep Rail Racer busy while Scourge attempted to access Maximus again. Koji Gets His Wish

With the hunt for the O-Parts on, the Decepticons confronted the Autobot Brothers and Build Team, who had found an O-Part, and demanded they hand it over. The Autobots promptly disappeared through the Global Space Bridge, starting a game of cat and mouse. The Decepticons eventually cornered them in Egypt, however Sky-Byte's bungling made recovering the O-Parts impossible. A Friendly Contest Spying from space, Movor spotted the Autobots in the Sahara Desert, and Megatron and the Decepticons arrived in time to attack Side Burn. Venturing into the subterranean ruins, they found the Autobots had located the Orb of Sigma, and the Decepticons fought them while Megatron went for the Orb. Ultimately they were unsuccessful and, with the loss of Megatron, the Decepticons retreated back to the Megastar. Peril from the Past

Without Megatron's leadership, the Decepticons had a lot more freedom to do what they wanted. They tracked the Autobots to an old temple, where they were able to snatch Cerebros, the key to controlling Fortress Maximus, away with the help of the Predacons. Maximus himself was soon located and, despite the Autobots attempting to defend the giant, Scourge was able to use Cerebros to activate him. The Commandos combined into Ruination during the following battle, however Scourge's lack of ability to control Maximus and the return of Megatron as Galvatron resulted in the Decepticons retreating. Maximus Emerges

A second attempt in the desert to control Maximus, with Ruination providing backup, didn't go any better The Human Element and during a third attempt, Scourge's treachery was revealed to Galvatron. Mistaken Identity This resulted in Galvatron forcibly reprogramming all of the Decepticons to obey his will, and putting them under the command of Sky-Byte for an assault on Autobot headquarters. Pursuing the fleeing Optimus Prime, the Decepticons and Predacons were led into a trap, though the arrival of the Megastar and Fortress Maximus rendered them superfluous anyway. They watched as Maximus defeated the Megastar, and Galvatron fell to the ground. Surprise Attack! Galvatron was not out, however, and the Decepticons defended him while he drained energy from Fortress Maximus. He sent Ruination and Scourge into the Global Space Bridge after the retreating Autobots, before himself flooding the tunnel with lava by rupturing the tunnel wall. Galvatron's Revenge They survived the lava, only to be swiftly defeated by the Autobot forces. After Galvatron's defeat, they were shipped off to the asteroid prison colony with Galvatron and the Predacons. The Final Battle

Ultra Magnus...to the Rescue?

Assigned to help Scourge attack an energy research facility in Arizona, Armorhide sat around in tank mode until the arrival of Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus. Then he was shot repeatedly by Magnus, and that was pretty much his contribution to the operation until Scourge ordered the Decepticons pursue the Predacons, who'd snatched the nuclear generator they were after. Ultra Magnus...to the Rescue?

Toys

Robots in Disguise

• Armorhide (Basic, 2000, 2001)
  • Japanese ID number: D-007
  • Accessories: Pistol, large cannon

A redeco of the Generation 1 Brawl toy, Armorhide transforms into a Leopard 1 MBT. He has a large non-firing double-barreled blaster that attaches to the back of his vehicle mode. As the toy uses the Scramble City style of connection, he can form any limb to any combination of similar robots, though naturally he normally forms a limb to the combined robot Ruination.

He was first released as part of the Takara Car Robots line in 2000. In 2001, Hasbro released the toy as part of the Robots in Disguise series. Armorhide is the most drastically-changed of all the Commandos between the two releases. The Takara version uses tan plastics with dark brown and black "desert camo", brown-gray treads and inner robot parts, plus has an old Combatron sigil. The Hasbro version instead uses light blue plastic with black and white camo (in the exact same layout), a more blue-gray tread/robot plastic, and a Decepticon sigil.

This mold was also used to make the Operation Combination Decepticon Sandstorm.

• Valdigus (Multi-pack, 2000)
  • Japanese ID number: D-011

In Japan, Armorhide/Dangar was also made available as part of a complete team multi-pack with his teammates Mega-Octane, Movor, Rollbar and Ro-Tor. All toys were identical to their individual Japanese releases, but the set only came with a bio card for the combined form.

• Ruination (Ultra, 2003)

The entire Commando team was redecoed in various shades of gray with "urban camo" patterns as part of a Wal-Mart exclusive gift set, oddly released well after the end of the Robots in Disguise line.

Universe

• Ruination (Ultra, 2004)

The entire Ruination team was redecoed again to make another Wal-Mart exclusive set (why?), this time with a unified "desert camo" theme under the Universe banner. It came out at the same time as five other Wal-Mart Transformers exclusives, which led to a glut. Ruination seemed a particularly slow mover in this batch.

External links

• Armorhide at TFU.info