Nautilator
- Nautilator is a Decepticon Seacon from the Generation 1 continuity family.
Nautilator is a genuine card-carrying bungler in every conceivable way, shape and form. Anguished, rage-filled bellows of "Nautilatooooooooorrrr!!!" echo endlessly throughout the corridors of the Decepticon Headquarters, as both his peers and superiors struggle in vain to cope with his brand of oafish buffoonery. A total train-wreck of a soldier, Nautilator can hardly manage to swim, much less follow complicated instructions within an aquatic environment (traits that aren't helped by his unfortunate tendency to rust if submerged for too long). It is often said that the only positive quality he brings to the table is his inexplicable ability to return from the ocean depths with objects of value... but only after he's sunk himself there and had to be rescued.
Of course, if one were to question Nautilator as to why he's such an incompetent doofus, he'd be quick to point a claw at anyone but himself. After all, it's certainly not his fault that the pencil-pushing eggheads at Decepticon Command chose to turn him into a lobster when he clearly had no deep sea combat training of any kind (or at the very least, they could have issued him some floaties).
When he isn't sinking to the bottom of the Atlantic, Nautilator can combine with his fellow Seacons to form Piranacon.
Fiction
Marvel Comics continuity
Marvel The Transformers comics
When Shockwave's Earthbound Decepticons established their new undersea base, Nautilator and the Seacons were summoned from Cybertron to work on the base's fortifications, as they were uniquely suited for underwater activity. They got more than they bargained for when the super-Decepticon Galvatron came a'calling. In the battle, Nautilator managed to sneak up on Galvatron and grip his head in one of his pincers, only for Galvatron to break his grip and hurl him away. In the end, even the combined might of Piranacon couldn't beat Galvatron, and the Seacons were left laying unconscious on the sea bed. Enemy Action!
At some point, the Aerialbots shot down Dreadwing over the ocean while he was carrying a vital power source. Optimus Prime and the Autobot Powermasters descended to retrieve it but were ambushed by Nautilator and the Seacons, who had the upper hand in their home environment. Prime ordered Hi-Q and the other Nebulans to take the power source and return to the surface, but with that gone the Seacons decided that rather than press their advantage against the Autobots, they couldn't afford to let Hi-Test and Throttle drown and rescued them instead. Dreadwing Down!
After Shockwave was deposed, the new commander Ratbat kept the Seacons on retainer for another mission. The Seacons were commissioned to hunt down a sunken shipwreck in the Caribbean Sea around the Decepticon undersea base, a wreck which supposedly contained two Autobot cassettes with valuable information encoded on them. They successfully obtained the treasure chest containing the cassettes and, despite a brief theft by the Autobot Blaster, managed to recapture the prize and return it to their leader. Club Con!
With their headquarters relocated to the Arctic, Nautilator and the other Seacons were the first to respond to the arrival of Scorponok's ship, even combining into Piranacon to attack the encroaching craft. After all involved realized they were on the same side, they attempted to join forces. Though relations between Ratbat and Scorponok's were tenuous at best, further manipulations by Starscream pushed them into entering a Decepticon Civil War. Cold War! Unfortunately for them, this was all part of a sequence of events orchestrated by the treacherous Starscream in order to acquire the Underbase for himself. The Autobots and Decepticons of Earth were forced to unite in order to stop him from seizing ultimate power. The Seacons attacked Starscream in unison in the waters around Manhattan, but were destroyed in a single energy discharge. Dark Star
Earthforce
Sometime later, Megatron traveled back in time and possessed the body of Seacon leader Snaptrap during the Underbase Saga, in an attempt to save them in the past to bolster his troops in the present. He failed due to the intervention of Prowl, and the Seacons met their fate as before. Flashback!
Transformers Comic-Magazin
The characteristics of Nautilator and the other "Small Targetmaster Seacons" were reviewed by Optimus Prime and Bumblebee in a simulation watched by Goldbug. Memories of Bumblebee
Classics
When Bludgeon detected an apparent traitor in his organization, he assembled Snaptrap, Nautilator and the Seacons to face the betrayer. Unfortunately, their target was Hun-Grrr, leader of the Terrorcons, and Terrorcons stick together. Literally. As Abominus formed inside the Decepticon armory, Nautilator and the others took aim at the giant's weak points, but were unable to break up the combination robot. The Seacons then switched tactics, forming their own giant warrior, Piranacon. Overbite remained separate from his fellows and, after the initial bout of grappling and melee, lept into the fray in his stormsurge cannon mode, blasting Abominus in the face with a foot-wide blast of corrosive fluid.
The enraged behemoth continued fighting back, knocking Piranacon to the floor. Nautilator slipped free from the combination form and joined Overbite behind Abominus. The smaller warriors were beneath Abominus's notice until they concentrated their firepower on his lower leg, bringing him down. As Overbite and Nautilator reconnected with Piranacon, the latter shifted into weapons mode and further disabled Abominus with a blast from his torpedo cannon. One final swipe from Piranacon's coral blade, and Abominus was finished.
Believing the imminent battle with Megatron's Decepticon forces was compromised, Bludgeon summoned the Seacons to his command centre to prep for the attack. Bludgeon was so enthralled with analyzing the attack pattern of Megatron's incoming ships that he failed to notice the Seacons merge once more. The real traitors, they formed Piranacon and obliterated Bludgeon using their mass compression cannon before alerting Megatron's forces that the area was secure. At Fight's End
As the universe was obliterated, Nautilator was aboard the Talon which was pulled into an alternate universe. The Talon crashed on prehistoric Earth, much to Megatron's displeasure, and both Nautilator and Tentakil were sent outside to secure the area. The pair spotted a herd of buffalo, but before they could open fire, they were both incapacitated by energon radiation. Moments later, the herd trampled them to pieces. Shattered Time
G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers
While making his way through the Gladiator Zone, Nautilator found himself under attack by the Predacons, who were none too happy about the Seacon intruding on their territory. Nautilator retreated to his comrades and combined with them, leading to a fight between Piranacon and Predaking. Piranacon was defeated, but before the Predacons could finish the Seacons off, they were interrupted by Serpent O.R. The Art of War #2
As Piranacon, the Seacons helped capture the Autobots and G.I. Joes that had followed Serpent O.R. to Cybertron, then fought Omega Supreme during an attack on an Autobot peace ceremony. The Art of War #3 Piranacon was defeated when Sixshot rammed into his face, and Nautilator and Breakdown were subsequently assigned to guard the humans. Unfortunately, while the two were curiously inspecting Snake-Eyes and Scarlett, the ninja prisoner hypnotized Breakdown into gunning down poor Nautilator. The Art of War #4
Hearts of Steel
Like his fellow Seacons, Nautilator was awakened from his slumber on the bottom of the ocean by an Elder God's servants and brought to their underground city. Infestation 2: The Transformers #1
2005 IDW continuity
- First Appearance: Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #12
Following the end of the Autobot/Decepticon war, Snap Trap's group, including Nautilator, invaded Temptoria in search of resources. They set up "The Battery" and began using pink alchemy to convert the natives into energon. When the Autobots arrived, Nautilator was on watch and called Blip in to show him what was happening. Blip was at first too distracted by the fact that Nautilator sounded exactly like Megatron to look at the monitor. During the fight, Nautilator had the misfortune of going up against Whirl and attempted to surrender. Whirl was likewise amused at Nautilator's voice and attempted to do an impression of Optimus Prime before getting annoyed and blowing the Decepticon's head apart. Before & After
Commercial appearances
Nautilator and the Seacons attacked a M.A.R.S. Industries submarine deep underwater. They then combined into Piranacon to wreak havoc in a city. Seacons commercial
Games
Transformers Legends
Using a storm as cover, Nautilator and the other Seacons attempted to steal oil from an off-shore oil platform. Upon arrival, they were confronted by Waverider and Seaspray. Once the weather subsided, the Seacons were forced to retreat as Autobot reinforcements could now come to aid defend the platform. Deadly Depths Overbite and Nautilator attacked a coastal town, hoping to secure some research, but they were seen off by Pipes and his team. The B-Team Part Deux
Transformers: Battle Tactics
Nautilator participated in battles against a variety of opponents, both Autobots and Decepticons. Sometimes there were many of him! He was a Rare character available as a reward in the "Piranacon Hunt" event. Transformers: Battle Tactics
Toys
Generation 1
- Nautilator (Seacon, 1988)
- Team ID number: SE3
- Accessories: "Triple crusher cannon", "Tripod Rifle", connector, weapon stand base
- Nautilator transforms into a robot lobster. He also has a third Targetmaster mode,[1] a heat-seeking torpedo cannon that can be mounted on the weapon stand formed from the "Tripod Rifle" and other accessories, or held in the hand of the Seacons' combined robot. As a Scramble City-style combiner, he can form an arm or leg to any compatible robot combination; the instructions included with the individual Seacons depict Nautilator as the right leg of Piranacon, while most other art depicts him as the right arm. The instructions and boxart associated with the Piranacon giftset omit Nautilator entirely, since he himself was omitted from the set.
- Nautilator is cast from teal, gray, and black plastic, with golden yellow paint on his lobster-mode eyes and robot-mode face being the only paint applications on the figure. Nautilator shares his color scheme with Seawing, while lacking some of the more garish colors of his other teammates.
- His beast mode lobster-claws are not really meant to be separate accessories and are not listed as such in his instructions, but they are easily removable, and therefore often missing from loose samples.
- This exact toy was released in Japan as the Lobclaw drone.
Timelines
- Piranacon (Seacon giftset, 2008)
- A redeco of the Generation 1 mold above, Timelines Nautilator was available exclusively as part of a Official Transformers Collectors' Club-exclusive giftset containing all six Seacons in new color schemes. He is once again depicted as the right arm of the combined super robot. He now transforms in his weapon mode into a Coral Cannon.
- This toy was originally intended as an exclusive set of Energon-series Terrorcons, but was shelved due to a lack of retailer interest. The team were called the Piranhacons and their combined form was Piranhaking, but this other Nautilator's name would have remained Nautilator.
Transformers (2010)
- Decepticon Piranacon (Seacon giftset, 2010)
- Accessories: "Triple crusher cannon", "Tripod Rifle", connector, weapon stand base
- Available exclusively as part of the BigBadToyStore exclusive Piranacon set, this figure is essentially identical to the 1988 release. He comes assembled as Piranacon's right leg.
- Nautilator, along with Seawing, has the least amount of changes to their original plastic colors among this issue of Seacons, with a slightly greener shade of teal.
Kre-O
- Decepticon Piranacon (Micro-Changer Combiner, 2013)
- Set number: A4475
- Pieces: 95
- Nautilator comes as part of the Piranacon Micro-Changer combiner set, and can be rebuilt from his robot mode into a lobster. He can also contribute his bricks with Overbite, Snaptrap, and Tentakil to form Piranacon. His helmet was originally used for Warpath and his gun for Sideswipe. His beast mode legs and claws come from Kre-O Battleship. For whatever reason, he uses the human-Kreon style arms with smaller and rounder shoulders rather than the blockier shouldered arms that most Transformers Kreons use.
Generations
Notes
- How big a screw-up is Nautilator? Well, he was left out of the US/UK Piranacon gift set and he's the only Seacon not to be redecoed for the Beast Wars II subgroup. He wasn't even drawn in the super-robot art.
- Poor Nautilator is so incompetent that his fellow Seacons prefer to relegate him into taking on the Targetmaster role when combining, since this means they don't have to mentally merge with him. They have discovered that when he does participate in the primary gestalt, Piranacon's effectiveness is noticeably impaired.[2]
- Nautilator has the worst backpack kibble of the Seacons, but you wouldn't know it from reading the Marvel Generation 1 comic. Artist José Delbo must have only had art of Nautilator's front, since he drew Nautilator from the back twice, and not only are his lobster head and claws not there, but it's a different set of details each time.
Foreign names
- French: Nautile (Canada)
- Italian: Medusa ("Jellyfish")
References
- ↑ 1988 Hasbro Transformers catalog
- ↑ Nautilator and Piranacon profiles from Dreamwave's Transformers: More than Meets the Eye #5
