Cobrander

Cobrander is a Beastformer from the Generation 1 continuity family.

To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women.

One of the greatest villains on planet Beast, Cobrander (コブランダー Koburandā) began his reign of terror generations before the Autobot/Decepticon war reached the world. A being utterly devoid of mercy, he traveled the world, seeking out and challenging the greatest warriors he could find, besting them then demanding fealty and tribute from their lands. He believes those weaker than himself are at best tools to be used, and most often mere insects to be crushed at his whim. And with his brute strength and savage nature, aided by his ability to spit poisonous liquid from his fangs and claws, he never lost. Worse still, he wields the Mahilacore, a strange weapon that can emit radio waves that interfere with the nerve impulses of living creatures, paralyzing them... and with sufficient power, he can even control minds.

So great was his threat that the royal Lion Clan turned to powerful magic to stop him, separating his soul from his body and hiding both away... but even that ultimately was a delaying tactic, as Alligatron sought out and revived Cobrander as part of his quest to rule the planet.

Cobrander's defeat at the paws of White Leo, descendent of the Lion Clan, signaled the end of the great war and a brokering of peace. Cobrander slithered back to his homeland of Zigrad, where he rules as King. But true to his vicious nature, his rule is a despotic one, as the country grows more isolated, the populace living in fear and poverty. He's backed by his spying Emperor Shield Dragon, whose sonic abilities compliment Cobrander's and help keep the populace of Zigrad scared and under control.

Fiction

Beastformers catalog

A fierce villain that threatened the peace of planet Beast, Cobrander was finally captured and his soul sealed into the Bewitching Serpent Seal. Without its soul, Cobrander's body transformed into a stone statue which was placed in the jail of Red Phoenix with the Mysterious Ancient Document and the seal by the ruling Lion clan. Red Phoenix slept as a fortress hidden in the planet's vastest forest. Mysterious Ancient Document When the Autobot Beastformers and the Decepticon Beastformers came across the fortress, Red Phoenix transformed into its firebird mode, inadvertently dropping the stone statue into a deep valley. Its origins were a mystery to the Beastformers, but the Mysterious Ancient Document contained the answers. Series 3 catalog

When Alligatron died and returned as a ghost, he learned how to revive Cobrander, and did so to sic him on the Autobot Beasts. Burstsun catalog

Beastformers comic

Cobrander fought against the Laser Beasts when they emerged from their underground kingdom to challenge the Beastformers for the surface of the planet. Beastformers VS Laser Beasts

Legends comic

The revived Cobrander was defeated by White Leo, stopping the mind control that was affecting the Decepticon Beastformers and finally putting an end to the war. LG51 Doublecross Prologue

Cobrander took part in the final battle between the Beastformers and the Laser Beasts on Beast in 2023. The Road to Legends' Revival Chapter 1

Toys

Transformers: Beastformers

Molded with an eternal Bronx cheer.

• Cobrander (Beastformer, 1987)
  • Beast ID number: 59
  • Accessories: Axe

Part of the third series of Takara's Beastformers toys, Cobrander is an anthropomorphic cobra in lavender robotic armor. His left arm ends in a fang-hook-thing. The rubsign on his chest reveals one of three symbols; Fire, Water or Wood.

He came in a green-grid generic "Destron Beastformer" box, with a bio card with a line-art character image first used in Hasbro's Battle Beasts cast poster (rather than the painted images of the prior two series). Depending on the "Pack" he came in, there was a chance of his bio card being replaced with a rare "Secret Photo", "Bewitching Serpent Seal", or "VS Holography Mirror" card.

• Ceramic Special Cobrander (Mail-away Beastformer, 1987)
  • Beast ID number: 59

The Ceramic Special Cobrander (石にされた特製コブランダー Ishi ni Sareta Tokusei Koburandā) was a mail-in figure cast in marbled-gray plastic, lacking the normal toy's weapon. He could only be obtained by sending in the two halves of a "stone tablet" token: one half was included with the Red Pheonix Battle Base, while the other came in the Burstsun Special Set ten-pack. One version has a bare chest where a Beastformer's rubsign should be, while the other has a sticker of White Leo's head.

The figure was produced in insufficient numbers to meet the demand, resulting in a second production run. Even with this second run, this figure's rarity has given it an incredibly high secondary-market price tag, upwards of 50,000 yen (roughly $450 in USD at the time of this writing). In the English-speaking collector community this figure is typically referred to as "Stone Cobra," and collectors should be aware that some specimens available on the secondary market are actually counterfeits.

Beastformers

• Cobrander (Beastformer, 1988)
  • Beast ID number: 54
  • Accessories: "Mahilacore" MVP Weapon

Re-released in the Transformers-less Beastformers sequel series, Cobrander was given a straight re-release with new packaging and a new, more filled-out bio card with corrected coloring. This new card also gave his weapon, now branded an "MVP Weapon", the name "Mahilacore" (マヒーラコア Mahīrakoa).

The initial early releases of this series had the chance for any Beastformer to have the rare Burstsun symbol; we'll probably never know if Cobrander was ever actually one of them. Later in the run, the "mood ring" styled rubsigns were replaced with new rubsigns that revealed full-color Fire/Wood/Water images on black backdrops. (These rubsign variants also happened at the same time in the Hasbro Battle Beast version of the line.)

• Perfect 6-Piece Set (Box set, 1988)
  • Accessories: "Mahilacore" MVP Weapon

Cobrander was also part of the "Perfect 6-Piece Set" (パーフェクト6体セット Pāfekuto 6 Tai Setto, the English text on the packaging renders it as "Beastformer 6 Animals Set") multi-pack.... but he was not always actually in it.

One of the six slots in this box set will always have the exclusive Crystal Killer Fish, randomly taking the place of one of the six "normal" figures in the pack: Baboon, Cobrander, Demonkey, Eagle Killer, Little Serow, or Shield Dragon. Given that this set was the only way to obtain Demonkey and Little Serow in the entirety of Beastformers's run, having Crystal Killer Fish replace one of those two would be... frustrating. At least you could find Cobrander individually.

• Cobrander (Gashapon/candy-toy Beastformer, 1988)
  • Meiji ID number: 40
  • Accessories: ??? weapon

A small, super-deformed, articulation-free version of Cobrander was seemingly intended to be sold as part of the Takara/Meiji candy toy assortment. A bio/data card matching the released candy-toy cards, with its own role-playing rules and using the Transformers-era painted character art, was released in packs of cards with candy, but the actual toy ultimately never saw release.

Your bargaining posture is highly dubious. Proceed on your way to oblivion. This item has been canceled, with no current plans for release.

Notes

• Cobrander's name is a portmanteau of the English words "cobra" and "commander". This does not make him Cobra Commander.
• His 1988 release's bio card gives him the nickname Cobra (コブラ Kobura).

Foreign names

• English: King Cobra