Gnaw (G1)

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

Gnaw is a Sharkticon from the Generation 1 continuity family.

Too cute for the Decepticons, too spikey for the Autobots, and expendable by Quintesson standards, a young Gnaw's sense of rejection gave way to overeating.

Though he originated as just another Sharkticon, Gnaw seems to be loyal only to the one who fed him last, be they Quintesson, Decepticon, or even Autobot. Much like his kin, he is insatiable in appetite and savage in combat. Gnaw's "masters" don't so much give him orders as they do unleash him like a caged tornado that promptly eats its way through the battlefield in a feeding frenzy.

And yet, Gnaw has on occasion shown glimpses of heart and devotion. He has been known to watch over the Autobot Wheelie and seems genuinely loyal to the youngster regardless of suppertime frequency. Gnaw tends to snap at the fingers of any other robot, however.

Fiction

Dreamwave Generation One continuity

"Oh, anyone get the number of that truck that ran me over?"

During the Great Shutdown, the Quintessons sent swarms of Sharkticons to Cybertron for an unknown purpose, possibly to infiltrate and reconquer the planet. Some of them encountered the revived Shockwave and Scourge, Unicron's chief agent. Cold War Gnaw was damaged, presumably in battle with these two, and was abandoned on Cybertron when the other Sharkticons were called home. Following the great revival, an amnesiac Gnaw came across the young Autobot named Wheelie, and the two formed a strong bond. Gnaw later followed Wheelie in joining the resistance movement alongside Hot Rod, Kup, and several others. Passive Aggression

Down in one of the tunnels that make up the Old Slave Trails, he saved Optimus Prime from the Battlechargers in his own... unique style (Tastes great! Less filling!). Cold War Gnaw took Prime to his resistance group, but when Prime awoke, his first sight was Gnaw, who he thought was trying to eat him, and attacked. Wheelie took this poorly, and bit Prime's foot. Obviously the little guy and the Sharkticon had been hanging around each other for too long. Passive Aggression Once the misunderstanding had been dealt with, Gnaw was present to witness Optimus Prime unite the Autobot resistance and lead it against Shockwave. Countdown to Extinction He was last seen working with Wheelie under Ultra Magnus's command on Cybertron, being assigned perimeter guard duty in anticipation of whatever threat might endanger Cybertron next. The Route of All Evil

Generation One ceased publication before the story could conclude. The following would have taken place in unpublished issues.

After accompanying Hot Rod to visit Optimus while he was still off-line and recovering, Gnaw and Wheelie witness their friend being accosted by a group of female Autobots. Gnaw leaped into action to help Hot Rod, but was quickly beaten down. Generation 1 #11

Beast Wars: Uprising

Gnaw was a Sharkticon picked up on Arkus by Dead-End to keep as a pet. Aboard Dead-End's ship, the Dinosaur, Gnaw was kept in the liquid coolant systems as a secret, where she occasionally visited and sneaked him food over time. Gnaw proved useful when the proto-former crew mutinied against the Builder command structure. Dead-End needed to shut down the higher brain functions of the ship, which was actually the cityformer Trypticon. She unleashed Gnaw to keep the Brunt tank drone busy long enough to deactivate Trypticon and stop him from killing them.

After Trypticon crashed on the planet LGC-8803, the crew retrofitted him as a new colony, Dinosaur City. Gnaw and Dead-End remained behind on the colony as other members of the crew returned to Cybertron. Intersectionality

Games

Transformers Legends

Gnaw was among the Decepticons who aided Galvatron after his rebirth in Unicron's maw, but their assault on the Autobots failed when they were defeated by Rodimus's forces. All Hail Galvatron

Transformers Rising

Grimlock's New Brain

Transformers: Earth Wars

ROWF! RAWWRRRR! *Chomp!* *Nom Nom Nom Nom*

Gnaw is unfailingly loyal to whoever's fed him last. Better hope the other side didn't offer a better meal mid-battle! Gnaw bio

Both the Autobots and the Decepticons recruited a Sharkticon by tuning a Gnaw Crystal to lock onto his signal. He began munching on the Space Bridge he just came through, and Ironhide/Bludgeon tried unsuccessfully to extract him. Bumblebee/Shockwave figured out they could tame him with Energon snacks. He was then later assigned to work with Seaspray/Octopunch. Transformers: Earth Wars

On the Autobot's side, Seaspray named the new Sharkticon Gnaw, after considering "Gnasher"™ and "Bite Me". Blaster picked up a Decepti-comm on the coast, and so Seapsray and Gnaw went to invesitigate.

On the Decepticon's side, Gnaw went with Octopunch to one of Earth's oceans, waiting to ambush an Autobot. Gnaw didn't seem interested in Octopunch's explanation. ("Nuff, Yaff", he said). Seaspray eventually arrived, but Gnaw leapt out too soon, and Seaspray had enough Energon goodies to make him turn on Octopunch. Gnaw Decepticon Research

• Class: Special
• Star Rating: 2 star - 5 star
• Weapons: Gnaw chomps buildings or breathes acid on them.
• Ability: Chomp Chomp Chomp - Unleashes four vicious Sharkticons one star rating lower than Gnaw. If any Sharkticons are killed or are active when Gnaw reuses his ability, they will explode.
  • Cost: 4 ability points +3 for reuses.

Gnaw at Transformers: Earth Wars Wiki

Toys

The Transformers

Been hitting the energon goodies too much, have we?

• Gnaw (Decepticon, 1986)
  • Accessories: Tail, "Maceration Laser"

Gnaw transforms into a rotund, squat-limbed, shark-like monster with chromed chompers. His beast mode tail becomes a mace weapon for robot mode and is also the most frequently missing piece from many Gnaws on the secondary market.

There is a minor production variation in the beast mode legs/robot arms; some have two screws holding the light-gray calf/forearms together, while other have three screws. Exciting, we know. Some releases of Gnaw also came with one of four pieces to a The Transformers: The Movie poster with glow-in-the-dark elements, advertising the Decipher the Decepticon contest.

Though the toy is labeled as "Gnaw", much like the Cybertron Scrapmetal toy, it can be considered either the individual character or one of the countless others of its type. Because of its fictional appearance as mass armies, it is one of the few original-line army builder toys, though it is notably costly to use it for that purpose.

In Japan, Gnaw was not available as part of the normal retail assortment, despite its semi-prominent fictional appearance. At first, it was a promotional item as part of a Beastformers giveaway. It was later made available in limited quantities, seemingly in U.S. packaging, as a mail-away during 1988's Super-God Masterforce series.

• More information on Gnaw at TFU.info

Generations

Titans Return

Commence Army Building!

• Gnaw (Legends Class, 2016)
  • Accessories: Tail/mace

Part of the third wave of Titans Return Legends Class toys, Gnaw transforms once again into a squat-limbed, shark-like monster. He comes with a mace accessory, which can be wielded by his 5mm hands, or plug onto his beast mode butt as his tail.

Like all other new-mold Titans Returns Legends toys, he has a riding compartment for Titan Masters (and Prime Masters)... but this one is inside his mouth. Yes, you read that right.

He was redecoed to make two different generic Sharkticons, first in Transformers Legends as "Sharktron", and later in the War for Cybertron Trilogy series as a the only Sharkticon in the "Quintesson Pit of Judgement" box set.

He's extremely short for a humanoid Legends Class figure, coming up to the shoulders of most other robot modes.

Studio Series

File:TF Studio Series 86 Gnaw.jpg

"How many would you like to buy?"
"Yes."

• Gnaw (Deluxe Class, 2021)
  • Hasbro ID number: 86-08
  • Accessories: tail mace, gun, "Mockery of Justice" backdrop

The first Quintesson-aligned character released in the Studio Series lineup, Studio Series 86 Gnaw is the subline's quintessential (hahaha) army-builder toy. A bigger and much more detailed figure than the above Titans Return release, Gnaw is a mostly accurate recreation of the Sharkticons' character model from The Transformers: The Movie. He comes with his (now articulated) tail mace and gun accessories based on his original toy, both of which can be stored on his beast mode.

Unfortunately, Gnaw's head is visible in his shark mode's mouth. The inclusion of Gnaw's gun accessory is unusual for the scrupulously movie-accurate '86 line, since none of the Sharkticons in the movie ever carried firearms. This was acknowledged in the May 21 Fan First Friday when Gnaw was revealed, where the product designer stated that it was included out of necessity to reference the original toy.

Notes

• The original Gnaw/Sharkticon toy was barely released in Japan. At first, he was a promotional item as part of a Beastformer giveaway. He was later made available in limited quantities, seemingly in U.S. packaging, as a mail-away item during 1988's Super-God Masterforce series. He was sold as a member of the Animatron subgroup.
• Leaked product listings for the Thrilling 30 subline of Generations included a "Gnaw & Gnash" entry, indicating that a new Legends Class toy of Gnaw was in the works prior to cancellation. It is unknown if this Thrilling 30 figure eventually evolved into the Titans Return Gnaw figure, or if the latter is a completely separate development.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Gnaw (ノー Nō)
• French: Fringalo (Canada)