Santon
- Santon is a Maximal from the Beast Wars II portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.
Humongous, lumbering and powerful, you would never guess by looking at him that Santon (サントン) is actually a medic. A staunch pacifist, Santon refuses to kill under any circumstance and will only injure his enemies as an absolute last resort. Being a doctor, he sees his duty as to heal the wounded, not wound the healed. And the Maximals respect him for this, accepting his gentle convictions as an honorable strength, not a liability.
Santon's unflinching bedside manner also makes him an ideal teacher when it comes to the more rebellious youths-in-training. As such, Santon joins Skywarp in instructing the out-of-control Lio Junior, not only in the field of medicine and repair, but in the ethics of being a true warrior. Together, Santon, Skywarp and Lio Junior can combine to form the mighty Magnaboss.
Fiction
Generation 1 cartoon continuity
Beast Wars II cartoon
- Voice actor: Hiroaki Harakawa (Japanese)
Santon and his partner Skywarp were sent to Gaea with information about the artificial planet, Nemesis. They intended to warn Lio Convoy about Galvatron's secret weapon. On their journey, they also detected a new powerful lifeform emerging on Gaea. This lifeform, the Maximal cub Lio Junior, was created through a duplication of Lio Convoy's Energon Matrix. Upon their arrival, Santon and Skywarp found Lio Convoy and Lio Junior in battle with Galvatron. Through forced fusion, they created the combiner Magnaboss with Lio Junior, giving him an outlet for his great energies. Enter Lio Junior
After Magnaboss dispatched Galvatron, Santon and Skywarp explained their mission to Lio Convoy and told him about Nemesis. They also acted as go-betweens in the contentious relationship between Lio Convoy and Lio Junior. As Convoy and Junior patched things up, the combined Magnaboss helped Lio Convoy temporarily defeat Gigastorm, the new Angolmois-powered version of Megastorm. Megastorm Reborn Gigastorm remained a powerful foe, however, so Lio Junior and his team joined the Maximals in a new operation to eliminate him. They lured Gigastorm into an unstable area and intended to bury him in a collapsed mountain pass. Gigastorm survived their best efforts, though. The New Weapon, Tako Tank
While reviewing his machinations, Galvatron recalled Santon's arrival on Gaea and his first encounter with Magnaboss. The Artificial Planet Nemesis
Santon and Skywarp reviewed strategy with Lio Convoy and Apache over the upcoming threat of Nemesis. In their absence, Lio Junior detected a nearby Angolmois mining operation and led the other Maximals into an impulsive raid. Santon and the others were forced to join the ill-advised raid when they heard of Lio Junior's attack, and were nearly destroyed when Nemesis rained down fire from above and destroyed the base with them still inside. Still, the Maximals survived the assault, and Santon's team formed Magnaboss in the aftermath to battle the Predacons. Gigastorm's Treachery
Beast Wars Neo cartoon
After the defeat of Unicron, Santon returned to Cybertron. There and as part of Magnaboss, he was witness to one of Big Convoy and Magmatron's tussles. Graduation Ceremony!!
Beast Wars II comic
IDW Beast Wars comics
Having learned from texts written on such Autobot medics as Ratchet and Fixit, Santon not only developed dozens of new healing techniques based on new Cybertronian physiology, but has also began studying other life forms throughout the galaxy in the hopes of establishing a galactic medical corps one day. Beast Wars Sourcebook 3 Santon was later altered by Lio Junior's unique spark to be able to combine with him and Skywarp to form Magnaboss. Beast Wars Sourcebook 2
When Angolmois-induced riots started breaking out all over Cybertron, Santon was seen among a group of rampaging Transformers that followed the Tako Tank. The Ascending #4
Beast Wars: Uprising
Santon was part of a council that judged Trans-Mutate guilty of her crimes and sentenced her to imprisonment at Garrus-16. Perception
Toys
Beast Wars
- Santon (Deluxe, 1998)
- Japanese ID number: C-28
- Accessories: 2 guns
- A redeco of Beast Wars Ironhide, Santon transforms from a stumpy robot to an African elephant. His proportions are the weakest among the group, and he has no real hands to speak of. He is very complex to transform, with numerous hinges and panels unfolding between modes. Two guns are hidden behind the beast mode's ears, and can be removed and plugged into the holes at the bottom of Santon's stump arms(they can also from a mace by combining them both, but this is undocumented). He can combine with Skywarp and Lio Junior to form Magnaboss. While Santon and Ironhide share the same basic colors, Santon features numerous additional paint applications not featured on Ironhide.
- Magnaboss (Multi-pack, 1998)
- Japanese ID number: X-4
- Santon was also available as part of a multi-pack with Skywarp and Lio Junior.
Notes
- "San" (三) is the Japanese word for "three". "Ton" is the English word for... "ton". Therefore, Santon's name most likely means "three-ton". Additionally, the average weight of an African elephant is 6,000lbs, which is... three tons!
- Santon's function as a medic is less surprising when one considers the fact that he is a redeco of Ironhide, who has a bad habit of being redecoed/retooled into medics.
- Oddly, the Beast Wars Sourcebook says he lacks weaponry, even though he has two flip-out weapons on his arms.
Foreign names
- Korean: Mammoth (맘모스 Mammoseu)
