Prowl (TM2)
| The name or term "Prowl" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Prowl (disambiguation). |
- Prowl is a complete continuity headache appearing in numerous convoluted portions of the Generation 1 continuity family.
Prowl is not a verbose Maximal, preferring instead to listen. He gathers information, analyzes it, and instantly suggests an appropriate course of action. His logical mind is without match among his Maximal brethren, who rank him among their best military strategists. Prowl feels that he fulfilled that same role in a previous life.
Fiction
Japanese cartoon continuity
Story of Binaltech
Offered a glimpse of the fast-approaching future by the time-travelling Decepticon Ravage, Wheeljack was witness to the death of Prowl and various other Autobots in the year 2005. In an attempt to alter the course of these events, he began Project: Bodyshop, developing new Binaltech bodies for his comrades that they would be able to control via the GT System. A body was developed to be used a secondary unit by Prowl, and designated "Prowl 2".
When Prowl came under attack from Decepticons on a mission in the vicinity of Saturn, Wheeljack made a desperate attempt to preserve Prowl's life by attempting a long-range transfer of his spark into his new body via subspace. Unfortunately, the process malfunctioned and Prowl's spark was lost. The body, however, had already been programmed with Prowl's datatrax, and Chip Chase, recalling the time years before when he had taken control of Prowl's body, volunteered to have his own mind transferred into the shell, bringing it to true life as "Prowl II". Prowl & Chase
When Prowl's spark was discovered in another universe, Unfinished Business, Part 1 Chip Chase allowed his Binaltech body to be used for the original Prowl's spark, ending Prowl II's existence. Unfinished Business, Part 2
Alternity
Controverse
Prowl and Wheeljack traveled to OG World from BT World to witness the Trial of Primacron. They transfered their sparks into new, non-Binaltech bodies, leaving the old bodies in storage.
Years later, when Professor Chase fell ill, Wheeljack remembered the time his essence had powered Prowl's Binaltech body. Using the Cortexitron, Chip's élan vital into the shell. The process was not entirely successful, and the new being was put into stasis until Maximal technology enabled it to be reactivated. Some memories were lost, but Prowl II was once again alive.
Beast Wars toy bios
Prowl II appears to have lost all specific memories of his prior existence. He remains convinced that he was a great military strategist in a previous life. Prowl II Transmetal 2 toy bio
IDW Beast Wars comics
"Yeah. We have no idea who the hell you are."
During the Great War, many Autobots fell victim to an infection that destroyed their bodies. To help boost the defense against the Decepticons on Earth, humans and Autobots combined their technology to create new Transformer bodies. One result of this cooperation was a warrior that was the combination of a human's essence and a robotic body. This warrior took on the mantle of "Prowl" for a short time and lived to the era of Maximals and Predacons. Beast Wars Sourcebook 3
Prowl was one of the protoforms left behind by the crew of the Axalon on prehistoric Earth. He was activated and put in chronal phase by Razorbeast at Magmatron's request, but was protected from Magmatron's Predacon shell-program by Razorbeast's viral code.
Accompanied by Night Glider, Sonar, and Air Hammer, Prowl sped to meet up with Razorbeast. The Gathering #2 These fliers and a phalanx of other Maximals finally reached Razorbeast's team just in time to fight off Ravage's Predacon militia. In the battle that ensued, Prowl battled Sky Shadow. After the skirmish, Razorbeast had a spark-to-spark conversation with Prowl, telling him how tempted he was to end Megatron's life while he was in the capitivity of Magmatron. Prowl assured him that he made the right decision, as it was what happened in the here and now that mattered, not what could happen in there and then of the future. The Gathering #4
During yet another attack by the Predacon militia, Ravage learned from a temporally displaced Magmatron that Shokaract was the real threat, and a truce was called. The Ascending #2 Prowl was one of several Maximals who were taken back to Cybertron in the present day, as it was under attack from Shokaract and Unicron's acolytes. Prowl airlifted Snarl (who invisibility-cloaked them both) in an effort to put a chronal displacement device on Shokaract. However, when Snarl jumped off, Prowl was visible once again and was blasted out of the sky. Fortunately, his sacrifice was not in vain, as the monster was taken to Magmatron's limbo and convinced to end this madness before Unicron consumed them all. The Ascending #4
TransTech
Prowl was a member of the Axiom Nexus Security Administration. He, Prowl, and Prowl were part of the group investigating the discovery of Comet's body. Withered Hope
Prowl later aided his fellow police officers in arresting Megatron, Battletrap, and Stepper. Cybertron's Most Wanted
Origins and complications
Due to the fact that The Transformers: The Movie (1986) was not released in Japan until 1989, the production staff of the assorted Japanese-exclusive series were not entirely aware of the fact that several characters died during the film. As a result, these deceased characters continued to appear in subsequent Japanese series—Prowl in The Headmasters, Wheeljack in Victory. Prowl was an especially erroneous instance, because he had been specifically name-checked as being among the deceased in the Japanese dub of "Dark Awakening", and yet... here he was, with a speaking line and everything.
The story accompanying Binaltech (2003–2008) introduced the Genetronic Translink System, a mechanism which allowed Transformers to simultaneously operate multiple bodies. This served as a possible explanation for the survival of many of these characters, but it did not explain how Prowl could still be around, since he had specifically been stated to be dead. Enter "Prowl II", an identical clone (sort of) with Prowl's memories that seemingly retconned the appearances in The Headmasters into being "Prowl II", rather than Prowl.
This continuity patch-job failed to stick, however—eighteen chapters in, the events of the Binaltech storyline were branched off into a parallel dimension, leaving the appearances of Prowl in The Headmasters as an anomaly once more.
The anomaly continued in early 2008, when IDW's Beast Wars Sourcebook profiled the Transmetal 2 Beast Warrior Prowl. Originally released in 1998, this Prowl's bio noted that he believed himself "to have been a great military strategist in a former life," a reference to the original Prowl. As the Sourcebook had already chosen to represent the Magnaboss component also known as Prowl as an upgraded version of the original character, Transmetal 2 Prowl—here given the moniker of "Prowl II"—was established to be an upgraded version of the semi-clone from Binaltech.
This, however, doesn't make sense. The IDW Beast Wars storyline occurs simultaneously with the Beast Wars cartoon, and the events of the branched-off Binaltech timeline do not line up with the Beast Wars show (specifically, in the Generation 1-era of the Beast Wars universe, Galvatron is known to have killed Starscream, but in the Binaltech timeline, Megatron never even becomes Galvatron). Additionally, a few months after the publication of the Sourcebook, the Binaltech story chapter included with Bluestreak firmly stamped out any possibility of this idea working by restoring Prowl to life and putting Chip back in his own body.
Toys
Beast Wars
- Prowl (Deluxe Transmetal 2, 1999)
- Prowl is a Transmetal 2 bio-mechanical owl with a flip-around-reveal spark crystal in his owl-skull. In beast mode, he has a spring-gear-activated spinning head-and-wing gimmick. Oddly, the advertised robot mode for this figure has limited range of motion, since its wings would prevent its arms from moving forward. However, box art suggests folding the wings over the shoulders, rather than sticking out sideways from the chest.
- His toy was released in two color schemes: The first one, available in the first few waves of product with Prowl, features a white, turquoise, and red coloration. Several waves in, however, he and Dinobot were re-shipped as part of Hasbro's early experiments in refreshing a line with same-character redeco variants, with Prowl now colored black, blue, and red. As a running change variation, he was sold under the same individual SKU rather than as a completely new release, and his packaging makes no mention of this new color scheme.
Binaltech
- Prowl (Binaltech, 2005)
- Japanese ID number: BT-15
- Accessories: Engine/gun, traffic direction baton
- Prowl II transforms into a fully-licensed 1:24-scale Acura RSX with opening doors, hood and trunk. His engine becomes a (non-firing) gun, while a clear-plastic nightstick is hidden under his car mode rear section. For his standard Japanese Binaltech release, Prowl received a vehicle mode deco based on a real Japanese police car (the Hasbro Prowl's deco being based more on the original Generation 1 toy), a different spoiler mold, different rims, right-side steering, a Japanese police cherry blossom emblem instead of an Acura logo, and gray plastic instead of stony-blue. He was also labeled as a "Honda Integra Type-R", the model's make in Japan.
- Prowl Vivid Blue Pearl Edition (Binaltech, 2005)
- Japanese ID number: BT-15
- Accessories: Engine/gun, traffic direction baton
- Like Meister, Prowl got two different Binaltech decos released in equal numbers. The second version, known as "Vivid Blue Pearl", is a civilian version with no police lights, a mostly blue interior, a Honda logo (instead of the cherry blossom emblem) on the grill, and a solid blue car-shell. His robot mode parts remained mostly the same color, however.
- This mold (the Japanese blue Prowl variant, combined with parts from American police Prowl) was used to make Alternators Camshaft.
Notes
- The Beast Wars toy bio notes that Prowl fires "highly corrosive acid pellets", a nod to the original Prowl's weapon, but this Prowl has no gun of any type. However, real owls do spit up hardened pellets of undigested bone, fur and other leftovers from recent meals... so basically, Prowl horks up hardened barf-bullets at his enemies. Delightful!
- There is another "Prowl 2" toy out there, the Spy Changer from the 2001 Robots in Disguise toyline. No release of the toy included a bio, and consequently, just exactly who this figure represents can be debated. But this was the first official use of the term "Prowl 2", so when the Binaltech storyline later called Prowl's Binaltech body "Prowl II", it was likely an intentional reference. In fact, it may have been more than a mere reference, since Car Robots (the original Japanese version of Robots in Disguise) is part of the Generation 1 cartoon universe in Japanese continuity. There is not enough evidence to declare the matter one way or the other.
