Treadshot (G1)

The name or term "Treadshot" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Treadshot (disambiguation).

Treadshot is a Decepticon Action Master from the Generation 1 continuity family.

"I've heard that you're a low-down Yankee liar."
"Prove it."

You think you can take Treadshot? Go ahead on. It's your move.

Y'see, there just ain't no quicker gunslinger out there than Treadshot. He'll plant a bullet between your optics before you can blink, then another five in various parts of your body before it hits the ground. Course, sometimes power is needed over precision, and Treadshot's got ya covered there too, thanks to his partner Catgut. With this hired gun pullin' the trigger of a particle-blaster cannon, there's few bots the Decepticon high command trust more to make sure a target goes down and stays down.

Fiction

Marvel Comics continuity

Marvel The Transformers comics

Howdy, pilgrim.

After the battle with Unicron, Treadshot attended a meeting of the combined Autobot/Decepticon forces at their headquarters, standing between Soundwave and Crankcase. He witnessed the report by Blaster that their world was falling apart, and Prowl's ensuing declaration that the Transformers must evacuate Cybertron.

Treadshot was later seen with Soundwave and Crankcase again, apparently clearing debris with them. They were interrupted by Grimlock punching Fangry through the window of a nearby building, which caught the attention of the newly arrived Bludgeon and Krok as well.

While Fangry briefly had the upper hand, Grimlock's Nucleon-powered body enabled him to administer a savage beat down to the Decepticon. This caused Treadshot and Soundwave to react angrily, though neither one stepped forward to help their blustery comrade. After Prowl stopped the attack, Treadshot watched as Bludgeon manipulated Prowl into revealing the Autobots' unagreeably peaceful post-exodus plans. Exodus!

Regeneration One

Well... it's high noon somewhere in the world.

After the resurrected Scorponok returned to Cybertron, converting Autobots to Decepticons with his Gene Key, Treadshot ended up working for him at the Civil Defense Hub. Grimlock stormed in looking for Scorponok, and finding that he was at the Sonic Canyons, announced that he was going to look for the rest of the Dinobots instead. Treadshot refused to let him, insisting that he follow Scorponok's orders to stay put. But when an alarm sounded at the Nursery, Grimlock realized that it was the Dinobots sending him a message, so he smashed Treadshot's head into his screen before he could alert anyone else. Natural Selection, Part Four

2005 IDW continuity

• First Appearance: Spotlight: Sixshot

He'll be all right.

Treadshot worked alongside Squawkbox, Ransack, and either Wingspan or Pounce in the operations center of the Decepticon space station where Sixshot and the Terrorcons were posted. Spotlight: Sixshot Later, Arcee discovered his impaled body at Banzaitron's destroyed base as she searched for clues on Monstructor and Jhiaxus. Spotlight: Hardhead He survived, and somehow ended up on the Autobot prison planet Garrus-9 during Overlord's takeover. When the Wreckers invaded, Treadshot attempted to snipe at Springer, Twin Twist, and Impactor as they fell through an empty energy reactor. He was dispatched with a retaliatory harpoon shot by Impactor. Last Stand of the Wreckers #3

INSIRT continuity

See?

Rewind and Chromedome hired Treadshot as security while they broke into the Vestigial Cortical Complex. The hired gun aided them by blowing a hole into the complex after noticing the absence of a door. While the two explored the building, Treadshot stood guard outside. Timeless

2019 IDW continuity

Treadshot and fellow Rise member Catgut were assigned to kill Bumblebee in the aftermath of the Tether falling. They almost finish the job but are driven away by the arrival of Chromia. Rise of the Decepticons: All Fall Down

Commercial appearances

This here's a holdup!

Treadshot, Megatron, and Krok blasted through a wall together to steal the power behind becoming Action Masters. Action Masters commercial

In this scene, Treadshot and the other Decepticons are not animated using character models, but by tracing stop-motion animation of their toys. This is because that sequence is the commercial's transition from animation to live-action, the first visual image of the toys proper.

Games

Transformers: Battle Tactics

Warpath? Never heard of him.

Treadshot participated in battles against a variety of opponents, both Autobots and Decepticons. Sometimes there were many of him! He was a Super Rare character who could be recruited by collecting 250 units of Cybermetal, 75 units of Transmetal, and 10 cores of this character. Transformers: Battle Tactics

Toys

The Transformers

In Italy, this may be my second figure...

• Treadshot with Catgut (Action Master, 1990)
  • Accessories: "Pulse demagnetizer" rifle

Part of the first assortment of individually-carded "basic" Action Master figures, Treadshot is a non-transforming action figure, though his design shows that his former alternate mode is a Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum pistol. He is compatible with any other Action Master partner, weapon or vehicle. He came packaged with his partner Catgut.

Treadshot's instructions depict a different weapon than the one the toy actually comes with—specifically, a weapon that wasn't available with any Action Master. The weapon that was available with Treadshot, meanwhile, is depicted in Soundwave's instructions, which resulted in quite a few mix-ups on toy information websites and in identification guides (including Generations and, uh, the photo to the right).

• More information on Treadshot at TFU.info

Timelines

Gun safety instructor told Treadshot to only point his barrel forward when he was ready to shoot, and he's all like dude I'm built this way.

• Treadshot w/ Catgut (TFSS 2.0, 2014)
  • TFSS2 number: 4
  • Accessories: Missile, "Catgut" partner

A redeco of Generations Deluxe Class Warpath, Treadshot now transforms into an "H-tread" combat tank of likely made-up origins. A spring-loaded missile launcher is placed on his right shoulder, and rods in his legs and arms are compatible with c joint accessories. He also comes with a new version of Catgut.

Treadshot comes with a minor misassembly: The base of his tank cannon is put in backwards, shortening the amount the cannon extends and how high it can be raised in tank mode. This is easily fixed by removing the screws at the bottom of his chest and placing the cannon base the right way around.

Treadshot was available as part of the exclusive 2014 Club Figure Subscription Service.

This mold was also used to make BotCon 2013's Timelines Strika and the Blastcharge Strika Drone and served as the model for the non-toy Beast Wars: Uprising incarnation of Bazooka.

• More information on Timelines Treadshot at TFU.info

Notes

Rare, but not really a good toy.

• Unlike the other new-character Action Masters, Treadshot appears to be based on a pre-existing toy—strikingly, a toy perhaps not designed by Takara at all! Originally manufactured by Sunmayor Ohkawa (サンマーヤ大川) Co., Ltd., as the "357 Magnum Robo" (357マグナムロボ), this robot transforms into a Smith and Wesson .357 Magnum with scope attachments. Its massive and awkward inner body serves as a real firing "gun" in both modes, complete with spinning bullet chamber and launching teeny tiny blatant choke-hazard bullets with a pull of the trigger. It was later called the "Highway Patrol Robo" and released in GiG's Trasformer line in Italy. Information on this toy is scant... but, strangely, it shows up in Takara's Takara SF Land Collection Complete Works toy book, which only further complicates the mystery of its origins.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Treadshot (トレッドショット Toreddoshotto)
• Italian: Raptor
• Mandarin: Saǒshè (China, 扫射, "Strafe")

External links

• Butto's 357 Magnum Robo page