Apache (BW)

Apache is a Maximal from the Generation 1 continuity family.

Mandrill Sergeant

Apache (アパッチ Apatche) is second-in-command to Lio Convoy. He is a grizzled, seasoned warrior who fights with every drop of emotion he can muster. Apache respects his commander like he was family, and will defend any decision he should make. He is also a very demanding officer and will accept nothing but the best from his soldiers. This no-nonsense attitude of his often brings him frustration with the fun-loving Jointron Brothers. Though an experienced, capable warrior and leader, Apache doubts his own usefulness at times. This self-doubt leads him to question his own instincts and decisions and makes him more comfortable as a second-in-command than as the leader he could otherwise be. Though he tends to get depressed, he is still a powerful soldier who has yet to realize his true courage and power. He readily uses his strength in his special third mode, a sort of artillery platform called "Angry Combat Mode", but assuming this form also alters his personality, turning him into a berserker. This may account for some of his reticence and self-doubt.

Fiction

Cartoon continuity

Beast Wars II cartoon

Voice actor: Sanryō Odaka (Japanese)

He's dead Jim

As a trainee, Apache fell on the battlefield during a live-fire exercise. A fellow trainee, Convoy, ignored their hot-blooded instructor's command to leave behind their fallen comrades, who had washed out of the program and should be left to die. Despite being almost out of fuel himself, Convoy shared what he had with Apache, and the two of them, greatly weakened, supported one another through the final leg of the exercise. Both warriors made it to the checkpoint and neither washed out. Since then, Apache has vowed to protect Convoy as his deputy. Mystery of the Ancient Ruins

What is your major malfunction!?!

Having received a mysterious SOS signal from within an asteroid field, Apache and Convoy went to investigate in small, one-man scout ships. Confident in his ability, Apache split off on his own, only to encounter a massive planetoid-ship on a collision course with his vessel. Convoy opened fire on the planetoid, causing a massive explosion that sent Apache's ship hurling through space while Convoy himself vanished.

Returning to the Maximal Space Station where he and his friends were stationed, Apache blamed himself for their commander's disappearance and drowned his sorrows in cheap oil. When the other Maximals voiced their concerns that Convoy probably wasn't coming back, Apache assured them that he would, then named himself commanding officer in Convoy's absence and passed out. Bighorn took command instead and took the team with him to investigate an abnormal energy reaction on the planet Gaea. They flew off in the Yukikaze before Apache had a chance to wake up, leaving him to freeze in space as he held onto the outside of the vessel.

¡Vamonos, Muchachos!

When the Maximals arrived at Gaea via transwarp, the Yukikaze was shot down by Predacons, so Apache and his team had to flee to Gaea's surface in escape pods. The planet's atmosphere proved lethal to Transformers, however, so Apache scanned a local mandrill to protect himself. After joining up with the rest of the team, Apache went to investigate a mysterious black fog that was killing the flora and fauna around them. They discovered Galvatron and his troops, who had earlier blasted the Yukikaze out of the sky. Unfortunately, the Predacons rather easily paralyzed Apache and his friends, and were prepared to kill them when a white lion came to their rescue. The New Forces Arrive!

The lion led them back to the crashed Yukikaze and revealed itself to be Convoy, now going by the name of "Lio Convoy". While the other Maximals were taken aback by the lion's true identity, Apache had already figured it out. Nevertheless, he was delighted to have his commander back, and he cried tears of happiness when Convoy took back control of the troops. White Lion, Run!

When the Maximals went to investigate a strange energy reading, Apache rigged a "draw straws" competition so that he could go with Lio Convoy. To his embarrassment, his commander noticed him cheating, and Apache confessed of his private vow to protect Lio Convoy ever since they were trainees together. When BB carpet-bombed the jungle to flush out the Maximals, Apache took a near-hit and collapsed, forcing Lio Convoy to drag him into the nearby ruins for safety. Apache lamented he was nothing but a burden, but Lio Convoy disagreed— pointing to a tunnel leading deeper into the ruins which they otherwise would never have found. Exploring deeper they were separated when Apache triggered a trap and was attacked by the Insectron Mantis, who strung him up as bait for his commander. Mantis attacked Lio Convoy and was about to kill him when Apache called upon previously-undiscovered inner strength to transform into a powerful weapons platform which caused the ruins to collapse. Afterward Apache had no memory of what he had done, but was pleased that Lio Convoy credited his performance. Mystery of the Ancient Ruins

IDW Beast Wars comics

Apache (lower left) and the near-identical B'Boom (upper right). I think I'm a clone now...

He looks almost identical to another guy.

Lio Convoy's deputy officer even back before the Pax Cybertronia was signed, Apache continued to serve him as a member of the covert special ops unit known as the Pack. Beast Wars Sourcebook 1 When Lio received Razorbeast's distress signal, he ordered Apache and the other Pack members to prepare to travel to Earth. The Ascending #1

Toys

Beast Wars

File:BW BBoom toy.jpg

Tonto! Jump on it! Kemosabe! Jump on it!

• Apache (Mega, 1998)
  • Japanese ID number: C-12
  • Accessories: Spring-loaded missile launcher, 2 missiles

This toy is identical to B'Boom, transforming into a mandrill. His beast mode face has spring-activated features, with a revealed spring-loaded missile launcher in his mouth. This launcher becomes a hand-held weapon in robot mode. He has a third "artillery station" mode that a Basic-sized toy can pilot.

• More information on Apache (well, B'Boom) at TFU.info

• Showdown of Artillery: Apache VS Megastorm (Vs pack, 1998)
  • Japanese ID number: VS-12
  • Accessories: Spring-loaded missile launcher, 2 missiles

Apache was also available in a two-pack with the Predacon Megastorm. Both toys in this set are identical to their individually-packaged versions.

• Apache (Mega, 1998)
  • Accessories: Spring-loaded missile launcher, 2 missiles

A special contest-prize version of Apache in a kind of camo-green was given away as a prize from Comic Bom Bom magazine, as part of a "design a Cybertron" contest, along with new-color versions of all five main Maximals from the series. How many of these Apaches were awarded is unknown.

Notes

• The notion that Apache is a drunkard as part of a Native American stereotype is untrue. While Beast Wars II is not above having horrible stereotypes, this isn't one of them. Apache does get drunk in the first episode of the cartoon... but that's in grief because he believes his actions have caused the death of Lio Convoy. He never gets drunk again in the cartoon, and never at all in the manga.
  • Amuseingly enough in Recover the Bonds Lost! Lio Convoy gets drunk for no reason and ends up trashing Apache's room.

• As B'Boom had already been well established in The Gathering, when Apache was set to appear, Don Figueroa drew Apache with the shoulder cannons retracted. Furthermore, he was given a lighter coloration and made less stocky to distinguish him from B'Boom. This is especially apparent in the scene where both have to help secure an Angolmois-infected Razorbeast. This was not the only time a design adjustment was necessary.