Needlenose (G1)
| This article is about the evil Decepticon from Generation 1. For heroic Shattered Glass counterpart, see Needlenose (SG). |
- Needlenose is a Decepticon Targetmaster from the Generation 1 continuity family.
Needlenose is a fly airplane-bot who used to design the most righteous fashion microchips in all Cybertron, until a bunch of bogus dorks said they were totally last year. Whatever! This supreme dissage led to supreme pissage, and the cheesed-off designer joined the uber-bad Decepticons for revenge.
A willing if clueless soldier, Needlenose always keeps it fresh and fly. When he found out about Nebulans, he was all over that, and snagged himself two: Sunbeam, a gnarly surfer dude, and Zigzag, a cool old geezer whose black armor goes with absolutely everything. These two dudes can even combine into a single weapon, which is not at all weird. Telling Needlenose that this weapon is smarter than him is totally not cool. He'd, like, deck you in the locknuts for that.
He's bad-aft, is Needlenose. Not. Straight up, he's a big tin dweeb who thinks he's the bomb. He even plays video games. LAME.
Fiction
Marvel Comics continuity
Marvel The Transformers comics
Needlenose was sponsored by Spinister as a potential recruit for the new Mayhem Attack Squad, being gathered by Snarler to hunt down the traitors from the Time Wars, Carnivac and Catilla. Unfortunately, Needlenose was less than prepared for the stress of combat. During a training exercise in a simulation of Slaughter City, he abandoned the fight, an act punishable by death under Decepticon military code. In order to save him from this fate, Spinister deliberately allowed himself to be overcome by an Autobot solid light simulation, hoping the sight of a fellow Decepticon in trouble would be enough to snap Needlenose back into action. It was, and Needlenose "saved" Spinister from his attacker. When Snarler asked if the new Mayhems were ready, Spinister refrained from mentioning Needlenose's problems, and pushed the team forward to their active assignment. The Hunting Party
On Earth, Needlenose and the Mayhems caught Carnivac alone with their robotic Hellhound, Way of the Warrior and began hunting him down through the American desert. Survival Run Carnivac's fellow deserter Catilla came to his rescue, only to be skewered and killed by the Mayhem Bludgeon. The other Survivors arrived and chased off the Mayhems, and Carnivac swore revenge for the death of his friend. A Savage Place!
When Lord Thunderwing learned of a series of Autobot teams being launched into one small cluster of the universe, Thunderwing brought Needlenose, Windsweeper, Spinister, Ruckus to investigate. Their pursuit brought them to Pz-Zazz, where Needlenose's team became known as the "Robot Mob." After quickly subduing and capturing Nightbeat, Siren, and Hosehead, Bird of Prey! they then turned their attentions towards an Autobot search team on the planet Cheyne. En route to Cheyne, after Thunderwing learned of the Autobots' quest for the lost Creation Matrix. Upon arriving at Cheyne, Needlenose accompanied the others to the planet's surface, where they discovered the Autobot team there had fallen victim to a family of psychic vampires, and thus useless to the Decepticons' mission. Kings of the Wild Frontier.
Their next stop was Pequod, where Thunderwing sent Needlenose and Spinister to attack the Autobots there while Thunderwing could mind-link to the Klud that had traces of the Matrix inside. As they were recalled when Thunderwing found what he needed to know, Needlenose and Spinister began quietly questioning the sanity of their commanding officer, and what he was willing to sacrifice to acquire the Matrix (i.e., them). Deadly Obsession
Thunderwing's team next went to the moon VsQs, where they found another Autobot team looking for the Matrix. Unfortunately, a creature had absorbed part of the Creation Matrix's energies and attacked them, starting with Windsweeper. Needlenose wanted to gun down the creature as it tore Windsweeper apart, but Thunderwing forbade him -- the Matrix energies must be preserved. Dark Creation Needlenose's worst fears were realized after Thunderwing was possessed by the Matrix and went on a rampage through the Autobots' Ark -- their former commander was a threat to Autobot and most importantly themselves. Thunderwing quickly proved this by firing upon Spinister. Before things could go further, Thunderwing was cast out into space by the trio of Autobots captives, who had secretly escaped. Needlenose and the other Decepticons surrendered themselves into Autobot custody afterwards. All Fall Down
Marvel UK future timelines
At some point, a three-way Decepticon Civil War broke out between Megatron, Scorponok and Shockwave on Earth. Needlenose served as part of Megatron's forces and protected Crankcase and Ruckus as they escaped after stealing Scorponok's battle plans. Later, he and Quake watched as Megatron tried to convince the Autobot Backstreet to defect. Trigger-Happy!
Earthforce
Following Catilla's death, the Mayhem Attack Squad set up base on a deserted island, preparing themselves for the inevitable retaliation for the assassination. Unfortunately, the waiting was seriously stressing Needlenose's circuits. He staged a false Carnivac alert in order to time his fellow Decepticons' response times, and they were none too pleased with his antics. After Snarler and Spinister chided his lack of discipline, Needlenose returned to his quarters only to find Carnivac lying in wait, having slipped through the Mayhems' defenses during the ruckus. Needlenose cried out for help, but his fellow warriors ignored his death-screams, believing it to be merely another "test". Cry Wolf!
Transformers Comic-Magazin
Template:TransformersComicMagazin Needlenose was present when Megatron made peaceful gestures to humanity in New York City; and the Decepticons gave a "statue" of Snaptrap as a gift to the city. Unsurprisingly, once Humanity was off-guard, the Decepticons struck, and the Autobots barely stopped them. The Troy Principle Those events were recorded on a videotape that was later found and watched by Autobots on Cybertron after a nuclear disaster in Kalis. In Memory of Earth
In 1973, Powermaster Optimus Prime - A Robot, a Hero Needlenose, Darkwing and Dreadwind were hiding in an airbase in Nevada, before revealing their liquid crystal Decepticon insignia and flying off. He then used the distraction of a hijacked tanker to attack oil fields and refineries. A Big Day for Powermaster Optimus Prime Those events would later be observed via log recording by Autobots in the year 2008. Powermaster Optimus Prime - A Robot, a Hero
The characteristics of Needlenose and the other "Small Targetmaster Decepticons" were reviewed by Optimus Prime and Bumblebee in a simulation watched by Goldbug.Memories of Bumblebee
Classics
Needlenose joined Ruckus with his revised Mayhem Attack Squad in order to seek revenge on Nightbeat and Siren because they, like, totally threw him out into space once. They used an A.I. ship named Amory to lure their Autobot victims into an ambush. Unfortunately, Amory was only helping them because Ruckus was holding her pilot hostage and Ruckus, being an idiot, brought the hostage to the ambush for show-and-tell. One quick slash of Slag's sword and the hostage (and Ruckus's arm) were no longer in his possession. Now facing a group of Autobots AND a teed-off warship, Needlenose and the other Mayhems decided to beat a hasty retreat. Cheap Shots
Regeneration One
Twenty-one years after the defeat at Klo, Needlenose was one of the "Neo-Decepticons" who rallied to Soundwave's banner at Fort Scyk. Counterpoint Soundwave was off-planet when the resurrected Scorponok returned to Cybertron with a Gene Key capable of turning Autobots into Decepticons. Arriving at Fort Syck, the former Headmaster ordered the assembled troops to follow him and Needlenose readily agreed...after witnessing what happened to Misfire for questioning him. Natural Selection, Part Three
Needlenose was subsequently tasked with tracking down the missing Dinobots Sludge, Snarl and Swoop. Natural Selection, Part Four He evidently failed to find them as he was next seen with Spinister alongside Scorponok at the Sonic Canyons, preparing to make his Gene Key's effects permanent, when Grimlock and the Dinobots attacked. When Grimlock's mole Perceptor neutralised the Gene Key's effects on the Autobots, turning the odds against Scorponok, Needlenose and Spinister chose the better part of valour, transformed to their aerial modes and fled. Natural Selection, Part Five
Later, Needlenose and Spinister convinced a few agitated Cybertronians to lob a grenade at Hot Rod as he was giving a speech at the Eugenesis Plaza. Destiny, Part One Now once more part of the Neo-Decepticons under Soundwave's command, Needlenose destroyed a communications facility as part of the plan to blind Cybertron's Autobots to the arrival of Bludgeon's forces. Destiny, Part Two When those forces arrived, they sent out an army of Blitz Engines to soften up the opposition while Soundwave dispatched Monstructor engage the Autobots' heavy hitter Omega Supreme. Though Bludgeon chose to remain on the Warworld, a group of his warriors descended to the planet's surface and engaged the Autobots directly alongside Needlenose and the other Neo-Decepticons, with Needlenose bagging Tailgate. The tide of battle soon turned against them, however, when the Dinobots and Demons destroyed the Blitz Engines, Omega Supreme tore Monstructor apart, Rodimus Prime threw Bludgeon through the Warworld's windscreen and Blaster took down Soundwave in single combat, Ultra Magnus was able to rally the Autobot forces with a rousing speech and they easily defeated the remaining Decepticons. Destiny, Part Five
IDW Generation 1 continuity
Prior to the war, Needlenose was in business with his overbearing brother Tracks selling Chic Chips, which Needlenose had designed. However Needlenose began to dislike the fact that the chips he designed for everyone were being marketed and priced by Tracks for only the higher classes, and felt that his brother was hijacking his dream and ignoring him. After meeting Horri-Bull and becoming interested in the Decepticons' anti-class rhetoric, Needlenose, after a argument, dissolved the partnership and left, giving Tracks a warning about being on the wrong side of history. The Transgressors
Hundreds of years ago, when a Decepticon sleeper agent silenced "The Voice" just as the Autobot troops were waiting for a broadcast, Needlenose and a squadron of Decepticons under Razorclaw's command moved in for the kill. Spotlight: Blaster
Much later, Needlenose answered Starscream's rallying cry as the latter assumed the Decepticon leadership. However soon over one hundred Decepticons were filling up the moon base and everything there began to degrade. Razorclaw made the base into a deadly place where the strong fed on the weak. Needlenose eventually gave into this way of thinking and showed it when he helped to brutally murder and then cannibalize Dreadwind after the soldier stole some energon. All His Engines Fortunately, Megatron soon took back leadership and announced to the gathered Decepticons that they'd take up arms once again... though Needlenose meekly pointed out that he might have trouble taking up anything, having fallen into such disrepair that he'd lost his hands. Spotlight: Megatron
When the Decepticons were captured after Galvatron's defeat (being weak after forming the Deceptigod), Needlenose was amongst the prisoners locked up and applied with an inhibitor/deterrence chip. Later, agreeing to Prowl's terms, he went on to 'discipline' the rioting NAILs. The Death of Optimus Prime
Later, he and Horri-Bull were made "enforcers of the peace" and beat up Tappet, a NAIL who was drawing graffiti on a wall. They were caught in the act by Prowl and taken to Ratbat, who berated them for their willingness to serve the Autobots. Needlenose was curious to know whether Ratbat had a plan, which he did and told them to stay out of trouble until the next night. However, that night, Horri-Bull and Needlenose were caught bullying another NAIL. After being spotted and threatened by Bumblebee, Needlenose tried to calm down Horri-Bull, but the latter kept defying Bumblebee, resulting in the detonation of his I/D chip. Needlenose stared in shock at his deceased friend. The Autonomy Lesson To avenge Horri-Bull, Needlenose picked Zetca as the NAIL to take the fall for Ratbat and Skywarp's planned assassination of Bumblebee. The World & Everything in It Needlenose was later part of an angry Decepticon crowd who demanded answers from the Autobots for Ratbat's death. Stick Together
Needlenose later helped Swindle watch over Dirge, who had witnessed Prowl murdering the Constructicons and was afraid he'd be hunted down. While Swindle was bringing new arrival Sky-Byte up to speed with recent events, their hiding spot was discovered by the Autobots. Needlenose fought back with a flamethrower, injuring Streetwise, as Swindle and Dirge made a quick getaway. Unfortunately, Needlenose and Sky-Byte were arrested and about to be lynched in public when Ironhide intervened and let them go, trying to make a better future between Autobot and Decepticon. A Better Tomorrow
When Megatron reappeared from Cybertron's wilderness, Needlenose and the other Decepticons were horrified to see that the Autobots immediately attacked him. Acting as spokesman for the leaderless Decepticons, he interrupted the Autobots' assault and argued that Megatron was a hero for his actions during the battle with Galvatron, convincing Bumblebee to imprison him instead of kill him. Bumblebee then had him go look for survivors at the newly destroyed Decepticon pen, but by the time Starscream found him and the other Decepticons, they had instead formed an angry mob prepared to riot against the Autobot government in the name of Megatron. City on Fire As part of this mob, Needlenose led an attack on the Autobot prison, freeing Megatron and following him to the Black Room. The Verge Under Megatron's command, the Decepticons fell back into their old army role and moved to conquer Cybertron once again. Before the Dawn During the battle for Iacon, Needlenose stood by Turmoil's side and got himself bitten and flame-breathed when the Dinobots joined the fight. Plan for Everything
Finding Swindle to be helping injured Autobots, Needlenose was unimpressed and prepared to kill both the traitor and his friends, only to be confronted by a group of NAILs led by his old victim, Zetca. Fortunately for him the neutrals were merciful despite their grudges and let Needlenose escape with his life. Heavy Is the Head After Megatron lost the battle, the Decepticons were banished from Iacon into the wilderness, where Soundwave, Astrotrain and Blitzwing began fighting over leadership. Needlenose broke them up to speak on behalf of all the grunts who were sick of the fighting: all they wanted was peace, but trusting their leaders in Iacon had only led to more war. Telling them he missed Horri-Bull and his peaceful life before the war, Needlenose declared that the Decepticons were done being soldiers. Shockpoint
In spite of Needlenose's little speech, Soundwave was able to rally him and the other Decepticons into battle for the sake of saving Cybertron from Shockwave's machinations. Soundwaves They marched on Shockwave's Necrotitan, only to end up in battle with the Autobots who were already there. Black Metal The battle came to an end when the Titan emitted a deadly energy wave, injuring Autobot and Decepticon alike and convincing the two sides to team up against Shockwave. Winners & Losers Needlenose joined the others in attacking Shockwave's Crystal City base, but the battle was lost when the rogue Decepticon summoned the Necrotitan to his side. Finest Hour
Needlenose ended up falling in with Soundwave again after all, Detonation Boulevard this time under a plan to set up a free and conflict-free Decepticon commune rather than fight. The Transgressors
He was spacebridged back to Cybertron with Brawl to make contact with the disgruntled Decepticons and teamed up with Dreadwing. The trio whipped up anger in the ghetto and tried to intimidate Camien Prime evangelists into fleeing. Needlenose believed the Autobots were deliberately forming diplomatic relations with peopled who "served the Primes" in order to tighten their grip on the body politic and that Starscream's was a "puppet regime", and he berated Sparkstalker for putting up with this just because Camiens had done the bare minimum of treating Decepticons like people. What goes around comes around though, as in a bar meeting, Needlenose struggled to convince Dreadwing of Soundwave's agenda and his chat only enraged Brawl into an off-message roar that the Decepticons should just take what they want. And Brawl spilled his drink! What'd make this worse?
Then Tracks showed up for a chat, after having never visited him in giant-gun jail. Tracks' very presence angered the bar and it only deteriorated as the brothers talked, both wanting no war but both blaming the other's faction for it, unable or unwilling to get common ground. After Tracks said they'd had their chance for a proper deal under Bumblebee and blew it, Needlenose snarled back at his brother that he'd never have worked with the robot who'd killed the only person he'd ever loved. Tracks decked him for that; Needlenose spat out that his brother had never cared and only taken; and the Decepticon bar almost exploded into open violence when a Badgeless came in to arrest Needlenose. Luckily, Arcee arrived to defuse things (by brutalising the Badgeless first) and Needlenose told his brother to tell Prime that the Decepticons didn't want to fight but would if they 'had' to.
After, Needlenose looked wistfully at a pile of old Chic Chips before crushing them and going on stage to lead a Decepticon rally. The Transgressors After the rally, Needlenose and his allies approached Starscream about getting unfettered access to the Space Bridge for their people. Aphelion That night, Needlenose led the Decepticons through Iacon Spaceport 1. However Tracks embarrassed Needlenose again by showing up, how rude. Despite offering to let Tracks see the peace they were going to bring for himself, Tracks instead opted to try and call Optimus. After Brawl shot him, Needlenose kicked his brother aside before leading his fellow Decepticons through the Space Bridge brought Brawl to the Ark-7, where they confronted the Autobots trapped inside Blackrock's onyx field. Lagrange
TransTech
In the TransTech city of Axiom Nexus, Ruckus, Needlenose, and Crankcase assaulted what they thought was an energon refinery, but it turned out to be a waste fuel storage depot. Eyuw. Around Cybertron #1
Needlenose (not specified if it is the same Needlenose as the aforementioned one) was a fashionista in Axiom Nexus. With the help of his assistants Sunbeam and Zigzag, Needlenose was making waves in the fashion world, even outside of the Offworld Zone. He was interviewed by Andromeda. Andromeda - Axiom Nexus News Reporter
Toys
Generation 1
- Needlenose (1988)
- Accessories: "Sunbeam" and "Zig-Zag" Targetmaster partners/guns
- Needlenose transforms into the F-16XL variant of the F-16 Fighting Falcon. Zig-Zag and Sunbeam are mounted on 5mm hardpoints under his wingtips in this mode. In robot mode, Needlenose's articulation is located entirely in his shoulders, which can move up and down as well as swing out to the sides.
- Like all of the smaller Targetmasters, Needlenose was never released in Takara's Transformers line.
Timelines
- Needlenose (2016)
- Part of the Figure Subscription Service 4.0, Needlenose is a redeco of Firefly from the Combiner Wars subline of Generations. He will include Sunbeam and Zigzag, redecos of Caliburst and Holepunch respectively.
Notes
- For whatever odd reason, Needlenose's entry in Marvel's Transformers Universe depicts him with a positively gigantic head and feet.
