Photon cannon
A photon cannon is a powerful ranged weapon often found mounted on a vehicle or battle platform, though smaller hand-held versions are not unknown.
Fiction
Marvel The Transformers comics
Counterpunch is armed with a photon cannon that emits a high-density stream of circuit-scrambling energy. Punch/Counterpunch's Universe profile
Dreamwave Generation One continuity
The Attack Copter is armed with a rotary photon cannon which Over-Run can also carry separately. Over-Run's More than Meets the Eye profile
TransTech
Trapped in an alternate dimension by a space bridge accident and being threatened by an angry mob for the apparent assassination of Gutcruncher, Jackpot wished he hadn't left Sights back on Cybertron, as a bird who could transform into a photon cannon could be really handy. Later, when cornered by their accusers, Hubcap boasted that he could prove Gutcruncher was killed by Black Shadow with a maser cannon, tricking the Pretender into revealing that he carried photon cannons. As Gutcruncher was indeed killed by a photon charge rather than a maser pulse, Dirge led the Malignus revolutionaries in taking their revenge on the assassin. Gone Too Far
War for Cybertron Trilogy marketing material
The Photon cannon was one of Airazor's weapons and powers. Kingdom webpage[1]
Toys
The Transformers
- Chop Shop (Deluxe Insecticon, 1985)
- Accessories: photon cannon, vibro-spear
- The Transformers Chop Shop came with a brown gun, identified in his instructions and packaging bio as a photon cannon.
- Punch-Counterpunch (Doublespy, 1987)
- Accessories: twin mortar launcher, photon cannon
- Counterpunch came with a black gun, identified in his instructions and bio as a photon cannon.
- Scorponok (Headmaster, 1987)
- Accessories: Lord Zarak Headmaster unit, helmet, Scorponok's anti-gravity gun, gun guard, Scorponok's shield, Fasttrack, Fasttrack's 2 guns, 2 ramps, 4 dual photon cannons, 4 antenna, 2 leg shields, 1 claw arm, 1 side gun arm and 1 elevator.
- As identified in his instructions, Scorponok came with four gray double-barrelled photon cannons, although his packaging bio contrarily seems to refer to these weapons as "twin pulse blasters" and goes on to mention a "semi-autonomous armored interceptor with dual photon cannons", apparently referring to Fasttrack.
- Erector (Micromaster Transport, 1989/1990)
- According to his packaging bio, Erector's crane transforms into a battle station armed with a "devastating" photon cannon.
- Axer (Action Blaster Vehicle, 1990)
- Axer's Off-Road Cycle transforms into an artillery piece armed with two photon cannons, as detailed in his packaging bio.
- Jackpot with Sights (Action Master, 1990)
- Accessories: Sights partner, Heat Induced Photon Rifle
- Jackpot's partner Sights transforms and combines with his photon rifle to form a hand-held photon cannon.
- Armored Convoy with Optimus Prime (Action Master, 1990)
- According to its packaging bio, Optimus Prime's Armored Convoy is armed with a long-range photon cannon. However, the toy's instructions do not make any reference to a photon cannon, instead Prime's hand-held weapon is labelled as a "photon bazooka" and the Armored Convoy's main cannon emplacement is given the waaay cooler name of "galactic pulverizer gun".
Beast Wars
- Airazor (Basic Class, 1997)
- Accessories: Photon cannon
- Airazor came with a yellow gun (identified as a photon cannon on her packaging bio) that fits underneath her tail in beast mode and can either be held or attached beneath either of her forearms in robot mode.
War for Cybertron: Siege
- Firedrive (Battle Master, 2019)
- Accessories: Cannon, 2 "Fire Blast effects"
- Firedrive is a new mold which transforms from robot to "Duo-Charge Electrostatic Photon Cannon". As a part of the C.O.M.B.A.T. System, he includes two "Fire Blast" effect pieces that can be used to simulate his photon cannon mode firing.
- This toy was also used to represent Shaoshao Li and redecoed to make Fracas (who also transformed into a photon cannon) along with Nightstick, Pinpointer, and Singe (who did not).
Merchandise
Transformers Trading Card Game
- Private Firedrive, Ground Command-Artillery/Duo-Charge Electrostatic Photon Cannon (2019)
- Wave 3: War for Cybertron: Siege I
- If Private Firedrive's Health drops to zero, this card is flipped to the Upgrade side, becoming the Duo-Charge Electrostatic Photon Cannon, and equipped in the Weapons slot of another character on the player's side of the battlefield.
Notes
- The Attack Copter's rotary photon cannon was only named as such in Over-Run's Dreamwave More than Meets the Eye profile. In the toy's instructions it is generically labelled a "laser cannon" and in the accompanying packaging bio it is somewhat bizarrely called a "rotary photon pulse button".
