Victory Leo
- Victory Leo is an Autobot from the Victory portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.
Victory Leo (ビクトリーレオ Bikutorī Reo) is a powerful Autobot warrior who transforms into a robotic lion and works alongside Star Saber.
Fiction
Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity
After falling victim to Deathsaurus's Living-Metal-Destroying Cannon, God Ginrai was left in an immobile state. Desiring to be of use, he insisted on undergoing an experiential procedure that would enable God Ginrai to become a power-up to Star Saber. Despite Star Saber's protestations, God Ginrai underwent the process and became "Victory Leo". At first a violent and heartless warrior, Victory Leo was able to be calmed by Jan Minakaze and the other Autobots into remembering his old self. When the Decepticons threatened to bombard Earth with missiles if the Autobots interfered with their energy gathering, Star Saber was able to come to the rescue with a new circuit that allowed him and Victory Leo to combine into the powerful Victory Saber and end the Decepticons' plot. Victory Leo became a key part of the Autobot forces on Earth and was able to help end the threat of Deathsaurus and his Planet-Destroying Fortress for good.
Further adventures with Star Saber would lead Victory Leo to 2004 Earth during the conflicts over solitarium and defending Feminia in their native time against Violengiguar's Nine Great Demon Generals.
Victory comic
Doctor Minakaze discovered the "super-energy ore" known as gurunium. The substance was incorporated in the alloy for the body of the new Autobot warrior, Victory Leo. Dr. Minakaze and his wife were killed in a Decepticon attack, and, at some point, their daughter, Patty Minakaze met and joined up with Victory Leo.
As Star Saber fell to a combined attack from Deathsaurus, Dinoking, and Liokaiser, Victory Leo arrived with Patty as reinforcements. His gurunium body allowed him to resist Deathsaurus's Living-Metal-Destroying Cannon and merge with Star Saber via the "Victory Combination", allowing the pair to become Victory Saber. The Strongest Pair, the Combination of Victory!
To combat the threat of Victory Saber, Deathsaurus forced the slaves of planet Guard to construct a mech unit for his son called King Solon. As Victory Saber arrived to free the people of Guard, Deathsaurus combined with King Solon to form Kingsaurus. The two foes proved to be evenly matched, with their battle raging on for hours, until Solon was momentarily distracted by Patty. Victory Saber then bested Kingsaurus, destroying the King Solon mech unit. Victory Saber Is Strong!
Soon afterward, Victory Saber, Laster, and Braver found themselves in a losing battle against Deathsaurus and Liokaiser on Earth. Luckily, the Victories arrived (with newest member, Solon) and used their "Five Stars of Victory" attack to transfer their unique abilities into their corresponding Transformer. Patty transferred the power of her love into Victory Leo, giving him the boost Victory Saber needed to send the Decepticons packing back to their space stronghold. Shine, Five Stars of Victory
From the Space Stronghold, the Decepticons initiated their all-out attack on Earth. Victory Leo helped fend off the Decepticons as Star Saber took out Deathsaurus (well, really, Leozack did that) and the Breastforce. With the battle won, it was revealed that the Decepticons had been fighting for the survival of all the Decepticon civilians living within the Space Stronghold. From atop Victory Leo's shoulder, Patty invited all the Decepticon families to live in peace on Planet V. And so the Victory War ended. The Grand Victory War
PDTF Comic
Arriving on the battlefield, Victory Leo merged with Star Saber to form Victory Saber... only to ruin Victory Saber's speech by growling constantly. He's Here! Victory Saber!! After Star Saber's tuna gambit failed on Liokaiser, he called Victory Leo to ask him for assistance. Don't Lose! Star Saber!! Facing off against Megatron and Deathsaurus, Victory Leo transformed to lion mode and trounced them! At least until Megatron tossed him a giant ball of yarn, and the Decepticons ran away while he was distracted. Tough as Nails! Victory Leo!
2019 IDW continuity
A member of Colonial Security, Victory Leo provided an off-ship escort for the starship Fist of Iacon. When the ship was boarded by Spinister's splice-thieves, Chromedome activated their distress beacon, and the heavily armed Cybertronian showed up to provide Ultra Magnus with some air support on the planet Obsidar, then used his beast mode to take down the majority of the villains by himself. Storm Horizon Part 2 Victory Leo then escorted the scavengers to Fist of Iacon's brig as Magnus suited up to go after Spinister's boss. He watched as Magnus rescued Alpha Trion from Soundblaster and a black hole. Afterwards, however, Victory Leo and Chromedome realized that due to the time-dilation effect of their proximity to the black hole, they had missed out on more than seventy cycles worth of activity on Cybertron. Namely, Megatron and the Ascenticons violently overthrowing the Senate. As they approached the planet, Magnus played a message of Megatron's that had been playing on repeat. Alpha Trion reassured everyone present that the artifacts he had been collecting would offer some hope. Storm Horizon Part 3
Victory Leo and the rest of the Fist of Iacon crew arrived at Crystal City to meet with Optimus Prime and the Autobot government-in-exile. Test Flight I
Games
Transformers Operation Omega
Toys
Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers
- Victory Leo (1989)
- ID number: C-327
- Accessories: "V-Lock Cannon", 2 "V-Lock Rifles", 3 missiles
- Victory Leo transforms into a black, yellow, and white robotic winged lion. Both modes are dominated by the missile-firing V-Lock Cannon that rises from his back between his wings in alternate mode, or plugs into his hip in robot mode. A flying alternate mode was created for the character by the production staff of the animated series, and the toy is capable of being configured into this form, although it is essentially just a block with wings.
- Victory Leo combines with Star Saber, sold separately, to become Victory Saber.
- Victory Saber (Brainmaster gift set, 1989)
- ID number: C-328
- Victory Leo was also available in a gift set with Star Saber. Victory Leo can combine with Star Saber by plugging into the aft end of his flight mode, thus becoming a huge booster section, or by disassembling and connecting to Star Saber's robot mode. His legs and chest compress into a pair of "platform boots" that connect to the base of Star Saber's feet, while his other components form a winged backpack that aims his twin cannons over Star Saber's shoulders. In this mode, Victory Saber can also wield the V-Lock Cannon as a handheld weapon.
Robotmasters
- Victory Leo (2004)
- ID number: RM-16
- Acessories: "V-Lock Cannon", "V-Lock Rifle", "Superconductor Rifle" x2, missile
- A smaller, simplified version of the Victory Leo toy, the Robotmasters version of the figure arms Victory Leo with a new, yellow gun. It also has a modified official starship mode. Like the larger figure, Victory Leo can combine with Robotmasters Star Saber.
- Due to how the legs are jointed for the transformation scheme, it has stupid, floppy robot mode legs.
- Victory Saber (Multi-pack, 2004)
- ID number: RM-17
- Acessories: "V-Lock Cannon", "V-Lock Rifle", "Superconductor Rifle" x2, missile
- Victory Leo was also available in a two-pack with the Robotmasters version of Star Saber, with whom he could still combine to form Victory Saber, in both jet and robot modes. The two figures in this pack featured a more metallic paint job than their standard releases.
- Victory Saber Limited Black Version (e-HOBBY exclusive, 2005)
- ID number: RM-17
- Acessories: "V-Lock Cannon", 2 "V-Lock Rifles", missile, "Superconductor Rifle"
- Available only as an e-HOBBY exclusive two-pack, this iteration of Robotmasters Victory Saber features the heroic Autobot pair of Star Saber and Victory Leo in the by-then standard-issue "evil hero colors" of black and gray with turquoise and purple highlights, with some bronze thrown in, as well as Decepticon symbols. This redeco represents the two heroes in "optical camouflage" paint jobs for use on an undercover mission to investigate Decepticon dealings in the Middle East black market... according to online listings.
- This set was packaged in the normal retail-release Victory Saber 2-pack box, completely unaltered save for the addition of a sticker on the window announcing its name and e-HOBBY exclusive status. The collector's card inside is similarly exactly the same one as packaged with the normal Victory Saber set.
HasLab
- Victory Leo is bundled alongside HasLab "Autobot Star Saber"[1] as the second crowdfunded figure for Transformers. Victory Leo is a traditional Triple Changer; transforming from robot to winged lion to a not-very-aerodynamic jet. Victory Leo comes with his two 2 V-Lock Rifles which can either mount on his shoulders or be attached to his wrists. The rifle mounts can be articulated over Victory Leo's shoulders, allowing him to aim his shoulder cannons.
- Victory Leo can of course combine with Star Saber to form Victory Saber; granting him either a robot mode with beefed-up legs, shoulder cannons, and a jetpack, or a humongous spaceship mode. Unlike his original Victory toy, which was roughly the same size as Star Saber, HasLab Victory Leo is roughly Voyager Class-sized as opposed to the Commander Class-sized Star Saber. Presumably, this is to scale the duo's combined Victory Saber form more accurately to the Victory cartoon.
- At $179.99, Victory Saber cost less than a third as much as the previous HasLab Transformers product, but required 37% more orders, for a total of 11,000 "backers" before it could go into production. When the figure reached 14,000 backers, the gigantic V-Lock Cannon and 6 Fire Blast effects redecoed from Siege Jetfire was additionally included. At 17,000 backers, a stand was included that can support Victory Saber in either vehicle or robot mode. And, at 20,000 backers, the set included Star Saber’s V-Shield and Micromasters Holi and Fire. All three bonus tiers were met about 10 hours before the project's deadline, which occurred on October 10, 2021 to coincide with New York Comic Con.
- Victory Saber was marketed as "introducing Japanese canon to the Transformers line for the first time in 30 years", but this requires a little squinting and ignoring prior Hasbro toys of other Japanese-original characters that were made under different contexts.
- Victory Leo's reveal clip and subsequent pre-orders depicted only gray prototype stock photos. However, colored stock photography was ultimately revealed during a Hasbro Pulse livestream featuring voice actor Christopher Sabat.[2]
Merchandise
Mega SCF
- Victory Leo (2002)
- A non-transforming action figure of Victory Leo. He came with additional parts and could join with Mega SCF Star Saber to form Victory Saber.
Robot Heroes
- Victory Saber / Dessaras (unreleased)
- A surprise entry in the Robot Heroes series, this super deformed figurine depicts Victory Leo combined with Star Saber as Victory Saber, packaged with an equally adorable Deathsaurus, sporting another new name variant. Originally discovered amongst Wal-Mart store computer listings in mid-2008, the ill-fated Victory Saber and Deathy failed to materialize before the Robot Heroes line was canceled.
 Proceed on your way to oblivion. |
Transformers Gum
- Victory Leo (2011)
- Released in the fourth wave of the revived Transformers Gum series in 2011, this transforming model kit of Victory Leo is based on the Robotmasters Victory Leo toy, and made from red, black, and orange plastic, with stickers for detail. He comes with the central turret (and one accompanying sticker) for Rodimus Prime's Mobile Defense Bay.
- Victory Saber (2011)
- An undocumented feature, the Victory Leo kit retains the ability to combine with Star Saber. Unusually, the Star Saber kit was released two years prior!
Flame Toys
- Victory Leo (July, 2021)
- At Animation-Comic-Game Hong Kong 2018,[3] Flame Toys announced Victory Leo for their Kuro Kara Kuri line of high-end non-transforming poseable figures. Victory Leo is able to combine with the previously-released Star Saber to form Victory Saber.
Notes
- TakaraTomy designer Hisashi Yuki noted[4] that he was pleased to finally have the chance to update Victory Leo with HasLab, having considered the duo only half finished when he created Star Saber's solo Masterpiece toy some years earlier.
