Insecticon clone

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This article is about . For other uses of "Insecticon", see Insecticon (disambiguation)|The name or term "Insecticon" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Insecticon (disambiguation).}}
Insecticon clones are a type of mass-produced drone from the cartoon portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.
Because Incesticon clones would be too creepy.

The Insecticons have the ability to make clones of themselves (sometimes called Insecticlones<ref name="Hobby">Japanese & English Insecticon "Clone Army" bios at e-hobby</ref>) out of scrap metal.<ref>A Plague of Insecticons</ref> They have abilities similar to those of the Insecticons themselves, but lack the intelligence and individual initiative needed to be effective without the guidance of the Insecticons. If the beams controlling them are interrupted, they will disintegrate.<ref name="Hobby" />

The Insecticon clones as known are:

Fiction

Generation 1 cartoon continuity

The Transformers cartoon

On the island of Bali, the Insecticons were feeding off of human farmland when confronted by Skyfire, Windcharger, Brawn, Bumblebee, and Spike Witwicky. Being outnumbered, the Insecticons created clones to defend themselves. Bombshell destroyed a combine with an "insectishell". Shrapnel and Kickback<ref>The dialog suggests Shrapnel is alone creating the clones with "his" clone beams, but the animation shows clone beams coming from Kickback's antennae as well.</ref> then created clones from the resulting scrap metal using "electronic clone beams". With the clones, the Insecticons were now more than a match for the four Autobots who then fled into the cover of the crops.

Later, after the Insecticons teamed up with Megatron, the Insecticons left their clones in the control of Megatron to help take over an oil refinery. The Insecticons themselves went to prevent the Autobots from following them. The Autobots arrived at the refinery anyway and there was a battle. The clones had Bumblebee and Spike surrounded when Trailbreaker used his force field to interrupt Shrapnel's control beam. The clones crumbled. A Plague of Insecticons

The Insecticons teamed up with Megatron once again and created a vast number of new clones to serve as the Insecticon Army. The Insecticons and their clones feasted on farmland as a way to harvest energy which was then extracted from them using an Energon Transfer Device. The Insecticon Army was too powerful for the Autobots so Optimus Prime sent Cosmos, Bumblebee, and Spike to Floron III to pick up some robotic insecticide. On the way back, Cosmos was contaminated with Morphobot spores. When Cosmos returned to Earth, he crashed and the spores rapidly spread an infestation of Morphobots to a valley. Megatron warned the Insecticons not to come near the valley because they were vulnerable to the robotic insecticide. The Insecticons reasoned that Megatron was lying to them to keep them away from some source of energy and went to the valley anyway.

Megatron had destroyed the robotic insecticide, but when the Insecticons saw the Morphobots they thought they would make a good source of energy and the entire Insecticon Army descended for what they thought would be a feast. The Morphobots feasted on the clones instead. Only the Insecticons themselves made it out alive. Quest for Survival

Under the command of Megatron, the Insecticons and some clones were eating a city. The Protectobots evacuated the city, allowing the Autobots to destroy all the clones. The Revenge of Bruticus

The Sweeps, being rebuilt from dead Insecticons, possess a limited form of the cloning ability, accounting for the limitless supply of them. The Transformers Menagerie

Dreamwave Generation One continuity

For unknown reasons, Shockwave sent Bombshell, Kickback and Shrapnel to Earth, where they set up a hidden base of operations in and around San Desto, California. The long period of isolation and unique insectile alt modes didn't help their sanity much, and Bombshell began concocting even weirder experiments than normal. Using artificial growth pods, he managed to synthesize techno-organic clones of each of the "Insecticons" in their insect modes, and took over San Desto. A group of Autobots and Earth Defense Command operatives came to investigate, but rapidly found themselves outnumbered. Infestation

It was bug-squashing time for the Autobots, as they wadded through dozens of Insecticlones looking for the real Bombshell. Jazz uncovered the "nest" and torched the remaining techno-organic larvae before any more could be hatched, but there were still plenty of bugs to go around. Ultimately, it was the rookie named Bumper who came up with the idea to send a disruptive pulse back through one of Bombshell's cerebro-shells, disrupting his control over ALL the drones at once. Extermination

Descent into Evil

In a future era, Deathsaurus sought to resurrect the latent Insecticon cloning capabilities in what was left of the former Insecticon clan. For this, he recruited Buzzclaw and Dirge and extracted from them the genetic codes to make the Virulent Clones. Virulent Clones' bio

Toys

Collector's Edition

  • Insectron Clone Army (multi-pack, 2004)
    • Japanese ID number: 73, 74, 75 (individuals), 76 (clones set)
Salvo, Shothole, and Zaptrap are included in this e-HOBBY exclusive Collector's Edition set. They are redecos of the Insecticons Bombshell, Kickback, and Shrapnel.

Notes

  • The ability to create clones in their own image is a trait given to the Insecticons by the cartoon. It therefore did not appear in the Marvel comics, but has come to be a standard for the depiction of the Insecticons in later fiction. The IDW comics deviated the most with their interpretation of the "Insecticon clones" as being failed attempts to create proper Insecticons.
  • Both the e-HOBBY and the Descent into Evil bios state that cloning is an ability possessed by "Insecticons". Therefore, it is possible that the Deluxe Insecticons (Barrage, Chop Shop, Ransack, and Venom) are also capable of self-replicating. In case of the e-HOBBY bios, the Deluxe Insecticons might not have been meant to be included by virtue of them not existing in the Japanese version of Generation 1. On the other hand, e-Hobby occasionally referenced Western Transformers material, so...just take your pick.

References

<references/>

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