Nebulon (Headmasters)
| This subject of this article goes by multiple names that apply to other articles as well. See Nebulon (disambiguation), Nightstick (disambiguation). |
- Nebulon is an Autobot Targetmaster from the Generation 1 continuity family.
Nebulon (ネブロン Neburon) is a Targetmaster partner. Originally an engineer from the planet Master, Nebulon volunteered to undergo a unique form of binary bonding in order to save the Autobot Ricochet's life when he was fatally wounded. Unlike other Targetmaster partners, who are simply held in the hands of their larger partners, Nebulon plugs directly into a port on his partner's back, interfacing directly with his body and serving as a life-support system.
Nebulon transforms into a flame cannon, and utilizes the energy gathered by the Autobot's black body technology to fire blasts of up to 5000°C. This can cause backdraft problems at high speeds, but in another example of the unorthodox nature of their Targetmaster partnership, the Targetmaster also has an arsenal of other weapons he can rely upon.[1]
Nebulon's nature varies. In some universes he's a robotic Cybertronian; in others he's an organic Nebulan. Named Nebulon. Or Nightstick. Or not.
Fiction
Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity
Transformers Collection reissue bio
When Autobot Ricochet's metabolic functions were damaged in an unspecified "incident", Nebulon, an engineer on the planet Master, volunteered to help him by undergoing a unique form of binary bonding. While ostensibly becoming a Targetmaster, Nebulon's gun mode wasn't merely hand-held. He instead plugged into Ricochet's robot-mode back, serving as a life-support system.
The Headmasters manga
On Earth, the Decepticon Targetmasters Slugslinger, Misfire, and Triggerhappy set a blazing inferno. Chromedome and Daniel were having trouble controlling the fire when Ricochet and Artfire, accompanied by their partners Nebulon and Nightstick, showed up to help. The blaze was quickly quenched, and the Autobots then sent the Decepticons into a retreat. The Headmasters #7
United
A devastating nano-virus plagued the Earthbound Autobots, a plague that Headmasters or Targetmasters like Ricochet were mysteriously immune from. Perceptor charged Ricochet and Nebulon with leading a team of unafflicted Autobots to Nebulos, where the supreme scientist Zella had crafted an antidote.
As Ricochet and Nebulon's team arrived on Nebulos, an army of Decepticons led by Straxus appeared via an inter-dimensional portal. The nano-virus was part of a larger plot to draw out the Headmasters and Targetmasters so that their Nebulan partners (such as, uh, Nebulon) could be collected. As the Autobots concentrated their attacks on Straxus, Ricochet and Nebulon slipped through the battle to pick up Zella's antidote, blasting his way through Rumble and Frenzy in the process. By the time they returned with a cart full of the stuff, their Autobot team had defeated the Decepticons. The Fierce Fighting on Planet Nebulos
Beast Wars: Uprising
Nightstick was a member of the World Watchers on the planet Nebulos, opposing the Hive Alliance. When the Transformers came to Nebulos, the Autobots aligned with the World Watchers and the Decepticons with the Hive. The Decepticons and Hive created a form of binary bonding called Headmaster technology, but the Autobots were able to duplicate it thanks to World Watcher's Arcana and Teslor. They also pioneered Targetmaster technology, and Nightstick was binary bonded to the Autobot Targetmaster named Stepper.
However, Nightstick later betrayed the Autobot cause, bringing Targetmaster technology to the Decepticons and Hive. He was given a new armor and partnered with Cyclonus, while his ally Fracas abandoned the Autobot Artfire to bond with Scourge.
After the fall of Galvatron and the death of Cyclonus, Nightstick escaped Cybertronian justice and became a roaming space pirate known simply as the Nebulon. A Brush With Infamy
Toys
The Headmasters
- Stepper (Targetmaster, 1987)
- Japanese ID number: C-109
- Nebulon, effectively the same toy as Decepticon Targetmaster Nightstick, comes packaged with Stepper, who is a minor retool of Jazz. Nebulon transforms into a single-barrelled, non-firing hand-cannon that can peg into Stepper's car-mode spoiler or attach to a separate bracket mounted over his robot-mode shoulder. This was the only release of Nebulon's mold in Japan at the time; Cyclonus was never sold as a Targetmaster.
Commmorative Series
- Ricochet with Nightstick (Targetmaster, 2003)
- Japanese ID number: TFC-15
- For the 2003 reissue of Ricochet/Stepper both stateside and in Japan, Nightstick/Nebulon was retooled with a slender peg extension to allow Ricochet to actually hold him in his hand as well as changing the plastic clasp that held his legs in (this part was easily broken) to the more sturdy pin and solid plastic holder.
United
- Stepper (Deluxe, 2011)
- Accessories: Nebulon Targetmaster
- Available only as a mail-away exclusive offered through Transformers Generations 2011 Vol. 1, Stepper is a redeco of Reveal the Shield Special Ops Jazz, and includes Nebulon, a redeco of Universe Nightstick. He's black with silver paint and an orange face. Unlike the other decos of this mold, Nebulon's eyes and face are all the same color (likely in an effort to match the original toy's deco and differentiate him from the many other black and silver decos of the mold).
- This marks the first time this figure was released without the accompanying gang-molded Cyclonus. Whether this means the molds were separated or the accompanying Cyclonus parts discarded/recycled, is unknown.
- This mold was also used to make Rocketbot, Vector Oracle, Shattered Glass Krunix, and Tornado.
| Universe (2008) mold: Nightstick | ||
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Notes
- The Wiki's traditional policy is to use a character's American name for article titles and reference, as seen with any number of Transformers: Cybertron or Car Robots characters. However, the complicated overlapping name reuse for the Targetmaster character "Nightstick" has prompted an exception, and so Stepper's/Ricochet's partner is distinguished here by referring to his original Japanese name of "Nebulon" rather than the later American name of "Nightstick", in a desperate hope for some clarity on the subject.
- So about the name. Cyclonus and Scourge weren't Targetmasters in Japan, but Takara still sold their weapons, partnered with the Autobots Stepper and Artfire. Takara carried their names over as well: one was called "Nightstick," the other was called "Nebulon" (which is how Scourge's on-package bio referred to his partner). However, through error or design, the names were switched: the Nightstick-lookalike partnered with Stepper was called "Nebulon", while Artfire's partner became "Nightstick". To the Japanese audience, of course, this wasn't a problem at the time, but years later, it would get worse...
- When Hasbro released a Commemorative Series Stepper as "Ricochet" in 2003, his partner, Nebulon, was given the "corrected" name of Nightstick. So now, we've got a Decepticon Nightstick, partnered with Cyclonus, an Autobot Nightstick, partnered with Ricochet, and another Autobot Nightstick, partnered with Artfire, since that little guy has never been given a different English-market name!
- The bio of Nebulon at the head of this article is based mostly on info from Stepper's Japanese Transformers Collection bio. When he was reissued in America, however, Ricochet's bio did not include any information about Nightstick, making him a total cipher as far as English-language continuity goes. Is he an organic Nebulan from Nebulos, like all the other English-continuity Targetmasters? We may never know.
- Recently, the Beast Wars: Uprising timeline merged all versions of this guy together. Stepper's heroic partner Nightstick betrayed him to bring Targetmaster technology to the Decepticons, becoming Cyclonus's partner in a new armor. After the war was over, he escaped the Targetmaster Extirpation by becoming a space pirate known simply as "the Nebulon". Oy vey.
- The package art for Nightstick used for both Transformers Collection Stepper and Commemorative Series Ricochet was recycled from Dreamwave's More Than Meets The Eye profile for the Targetmaster version of Cyclonus, which depicted the other Nightstick.
References
- ↑ Ricochet's The Transformers Collection reissue bio. Nightstick had gone all but unmentioned in Ricochet's original 1987 bio; this reissue bio finally explained who he was and why he combined with Ricochet in such an odd way.
