Drill Bit (Armada)
| The name or term "Drill Bit" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Drill Bit (disambiguation). |
- Drill Bit is a Mini-Con from the Armada portion of the Unicron Trilogy continuity family.
Drill Bit is only interested in one thing: busting some heads. The enforcer of the Destruction Mini-Con Team, Drill Bit honestly doesn't care about Dualor's plans of independence, he just likes having a good excuse to engage in his favorite pastime. He'd even happily work with the Decepticons if it came down to it, for that matter. So long as he gets to hit people and break stuff.
Fiction
Toy pack-in comics
Starscream and the Destruction Mini-Con Team were sent to destroy a satellite dish that could have helped detect Megatron. While they succeeded at destroying the dish, the Destruction Team were tied up by the Autobots guarding it. Armada Volume 2
Cartoon continuity
Armada cartoon
Drill Bit's Mini-Con storage panel was discovered in a long-abandoned subway tunnel by Rad and the kids, wedged inside a lump of rock. In a confrontation with the Decepticons, the panel fell into the hands of Cyclonus, who Powerlinxed with Drill Bit. Cyclonus had a brief bit of fun blasting away at the Autobots with his enhanced power, but since the Decepticons had accomplished their mission with Drill Bit's acquisition, they soon teleported away. Underground
Cyclonus later employed Drill Bit in battle, attached him to his arm as a striking weapon to use against Scavenger. Works in theory, but first you have to strike your opponent, and Scavenger made that a very difficult thing to accomplish. Trust
Drill Bit appeared in the battle footage Jetfire reviewed at base after joining the Autobots. Detection
Dreamwave Armada comic
Drill Bit and the rest of the Destruction Team appeared to be used by the Decepticons during the attack on Cyber City, and as such didn't get to evacuate Cybertron alongside most other Mini-Cons. Armada #2 Thankfully, this wasn't really the case, as Drill Bit was on the escape vessel when it crashed on Earth's moon. Led by Dualor, the Mini-Cons on the Moon constructed a fortress base where they could live in peace, then summoned the Mini-Cons on Earth to join them. Armada #9 Drill Bit spent most of the time afterwards silently following Dualor around, and he was present when the team leader stuffed Rad White into an orbital mine to keep the Autobots from attacking the moonbase. A while later, he was overseeing the defenses alongside his comrades when Leader-1 suddenly attacked them. Armada #10 Drill Bit was knocked unconscious and was helpless to resist when Megatron showed up and captured him and the others. Armada #11
The Destruction Team didn't give up so easily, though. By activating a failsafe program, they overloaded the Decepticons with power and saved themselves from being used against their will. This allowed Dualor to strike a deal with Megatron: They'd lend the Decepticons their strength in exchange for some degree of leadership. Megatron accepted and handed Drill Bit and the others to Cyclonus, whom they promptly drove insane with power anyway. Fire & Ice Megatron mused that he knew that the Mini-Cons would betray him, then retrieved them alongside the unconscious Cyclonus. Armada #13
Drill Bit and his teammates were subsequently punished via Punishment Cube. Worlds Collide, Part 1 of 4 They were not among the Decepticon-held Mini-Cons released to join the fight against Unicron. Megatron was vague on their fate, simply saying that the Decepticons were "better off without them". The End
Panini Armada comic
Back on Cybertron, Drill Bit helped Dualor devise a plan to get rid of the Decepticons by assassinating Megatron. The plan consisted of luring the Decepticon leader to Autobot Command HQ, where Drill Bit and Buzzsaw had planted magno-web charges to blow him up. Ultimately, the plan failed due to Sparkplug's unwillingness to sacrifice the Autobots. Counter-Strike!
In the modern era, Drill Bit and the other Destruction Team members ended up on the moon following their escape from Cybertron. One day, they found Cyclonus crashed on the moon's surface, and decided to pay the Decepticons back for their crimes. Power-linking with the unconscious Decepticon, the Destruction Team boosted his power and took control of his body, then used him to attack the Decepticons' moonbase. They even managed to defeat Megatron himself, but before they could finish him off, their power-links were severed by Starscream's sonic destabiliser. Drill Bit and the others escaped back to their hideout, where Starscream later contacted them and offered them a deal... Dawn of Destruction!
Toys
Armada
- Destruction Mini-Con Team (Basic, 2002/2003)
- Japanese ID number: MM-04
- Drill Bit transforms into a treaded tunneling machine. He features a gear-wheel system that causes his drill to spin when he is rolled in vehicle mode. He can also be attached to the underside of the Armada Cyclonus mold, interacting with the Decepticon’s gear-wheel rotor system.
- This mold was also used to make Rock Krusher and Monocle.
- Sandstorm & Cannon with Destruction Micron (Multi-pack, 2003)
- Japanese ID number: MS-04
- In Japan, the Destruction Team was available both as an individual Team and in a multi-pack with Cyclonus.
- Destruction Micron X-Dimensions (Basic, 2003)
- Japanese ID number: MM-09
- A limited-edition (yet still standard retail) redeco of the Destruction Team was released in Japan. The entire team was given an orange and gray color scheme.
- This toy also doubles as the separate character Crush.
- Crush Undergrove Edition (Mini-Con, 2003)
- Exclusive to Ito Yokado stores in Japan, one member of the "Undergrove Edition" Destruction Team was given at random to customers who bought a Micron Legend product in January (or until they ran out of them).
- Crush White Micron (Mini-Con, 2003)
- In April, Japanese "TF Station" affiliate stores gave out solid-white versions of the Destruction Team as part of the "Golden Week" holiday. These pieces were made with the intent of being "paint your own" versions.
- Crush Space Galaxy Edition (Mini-Con pack-in, 2003)
- In May, JUSCO stores in Japan got in special versions of Convoy Super Mode that contained one member of the "Space Galaxy Edition" Destruction Team per box... but the bonus Mini-Cons were blind-packed inside the boxes. As such, this version of the Team is among the most expensive of the promotional Mini-Cons on the secondary market.
- Road Wrecker Mini-Con Team (Basic, 2003)
- Late in the Armada line, a redeco of the Destruction Team was put out under a new Team name (but as the same individual characters). This version is primarily green with gray parts.
- Blurr with Incinerator and Bonus Mini-Con (Bonus pack, 2003)
- Sideways with Rook & Crosswise and Bonus Mini-Con (Bonus pack, 2003)
- In November of 2003, US Toys "R" Us stores had special bonus pack Max-Con (Deluxe) toys, which each came with a single bonus Mini-Con attached to the card over its sticker, for less than the price of a normal Max-Con during Toys "R" Us' post-Thanksgiving-Day sale. Each of the Destruction Team Mini-Cons could come packaged with either Blurr or Sideways.
Energon
- Road Wrecker Mini-Con Team & Night Attack Mini-Con Team
- An unaltered version of the Road Wrecker Team was released as part of an Energon-series "Mini-Con 6-pack" with the Night Attack Mini-Con Team.
Notes
- In regards to Buzzsaw and the Destruction Team's ambiguous fate in the Dreamwave Armada comic, Simon Furman has said in the letters page of "Multiplicity, Pt. 3" that it can be assumed that Megatron strapped them to a rocket and fired them into the sun.
- In the game Transformers Armada: The Energon Within, the Decepticon "Miner" units are based on Drill Bit's design.
Foreign names
- Japanese: Crush (クラッシュ Kurasshu)
