User:Locoman/Sandbox/Mini-Cassette
Conceptual history
Fiction
Generation 1 continuity family
Marvel Comics continuity
Marvel The Transformers comics
Mini-Cassettes filled in regular positions in the ranks of the Autobots and Decepticons. While all of them were capable of speech, some would sometimes go long periods without talking. The Transformers
Hundreds of years ago, a troop of Autobot astronomers on Cybertron detected the legendary Underbase making its way towards Earth. In order to alert their Autobot colleagues on that world, they encoded the information onto Raindance and Grand Slam. On their way to Earth, their ship was damaged and the two Autobots crashed into the sea. They were found locked in their cassette modes by a band of 18th century pirates, who stashed them away in a treasure chest just before a storm destroyed and sank their ship. Club Con!
A number of small Decepticons—Laserbeak, Buzzsaw, Ravage, Frenzy, and Rumble—accompanied Megatron when he left Cybertron four million years in the past; upon reactivating on Earth in 1984, the Ark's computer rebuilt them into human tape cassettes. The Transformers These Mini-Cassette troops used their small alternate modes for stealth, disguise and transportation—for instance, Rumble and Frenzy frequently hitched rides in the cockpit of the Decepticon jets, DIS-Integrated Circuits! while Ravage used his cassette form on several occasions to spy on humans. Power Play!
Three of these cassette troops were taken out of play by Omega Supreme Command Performances! and remained inoperative for quite some time, while Ravage was dropped into a mine shaft by the Autobot Skids, which also took him out of comission. Showdown! Laserbeak remained operational, and acted as a sort of totem of Decepticon leadership Command Performances! until an Underbase-empowered Starscream eventually destroyed him and many other Cybertronians. Dark Star
Ratbat assumed a cassette form upon traveling to Earth, and used this disguise to monitor his human accomplices. Buster Witwicky and the Car Wash of Doom When Decepticon Imperial Headquarters stumbled across long-lost information related to the Underbase, they commanded Ratbat's Earthbound Decepticon to find the lost tapes. They moved their disguised desert island starship to the rough coordinates of the shipwreck and opened a Club Con vacation resort for fleshlings to disguise their true purposes there. The Seacons successfully retrieved Raindance and Grand Slam from the treasure chest, despite a brief altercation with Blaster. Club Con! Ratbat and his communications expert Soundwave were able to learn from the cassettes that the Underbase was set to pass by Earth in less than a week's time. The Flames of Boltax!
Ravage would go on to have multiple other adventures; after helping his former leader Shockwave close a destructive rift in time and space, Time Wars he teamed up with Megatron as the two returned to Cybertron to depose the Triumvirate and put the Decepticon house in order. The Fall and Rise of the Decepticon Empire.
The Autobot cassette Playback was a prisoner of the Decepticons on Cybertron. Along with Hosehead and Horsepower, he was released into the wild on Earth to be hunted down by Thunderwing as part of his initiation as a new Decepticon leader. He was the first of the trio Thunderwing tracked down and executed, and left his corpse to rust on a shallow beach. The Big Shutdown!
Marvel UK future timelines
By 2008, Eject was stationed at Autobase on Cybertron, working communications for Ultra Magnus.
Meanwhile, on Earth, the Quintessons invaded Autobot City, devastating most of the base's population. Rewind, Steeljaw, and Ramhorn were stationed there, but got trapped inside Blaster's chest when he was blasted off-line and hung on the ramparts. A quick-thinking Hot Rod realized where they'd be and managed to free them. The Mini-Cassettes joined Hot Rod and Arcee in retaking Autobot City from the Quints. Space Pirates!
Earthforce
During the Decepticon Civil War, Ravage and Rumble sided with Shockwave. The Bad Guy's Ball!
Classics
By the end of the Great War, not all of the small Transformers who partnered with larger 'bots like Soundwave and Blaster transformed into cassettes: some turned into memory sticks, while Blockrock had an unfortunate bomb alternate mode. Recordicons #12
Numerous Mini-Cassettes survived the destruction of their native universe and evacuated into a parallel universe of evil Autobots and heroic Decepticons, where they encountered their mirror-universe selves. Ravage had a run-in with his cheerful doppelganger, Recordicons #10 while Frenzy and Rumble were confused when the this universe's Ratbat tried to bring "their" Ratbat, who'd already died to Scorponok, to justice. Recordicons #11
Generation 1 cartoon continuity
The Transformers cartoon
Laserbeak was the first Mini-Cassette, designed for espionage and information-gathering. Secret Files of Teletraan II These Mini-Cassettes were largely subordinate to Soundwave and Blaster, and very loyal to them. They spent much of their time stored away in their chest, waiting to be called out when the situation required it. Mini-Cassettes with bestial robot modes were treated like pets and generally did not speak. More than Meets the Eye, Part 1 Laserbeak was frequently sent to spy on the Autobots at Autobot Headquarters, once using his cassette form to sneak in. Divide and Conquer Ravage likewise used his cassette mode to infiltrate Teletraan I and steal information about Earth's resources. More than Meets the Eye, Part 2 Rumble was used more often to destroy stuff, though all three frequently engaged in battle.
The less-seen Buzzsaw and Frenzy also appeared on occasion, usually acting in conjunction with Laserbeak and Rumble, respectively. Countdown to Extinction Atlantis, Arise! The Immobilizer
At some point between 1986 and 2005, the Autobots developed their own version of cassette technology and created their own army of cassette Transformers. Secret Files of Teletraan II During the attack on Autobot City, Blaster attempted to radio Prime for reinforcements on Moonbase One. Megatron detected the transmission and ordered Soundwave to send his Cassettes to prevent the broadcast. Once Rumble and the others breached the communications tower, Blaster ejected Ramhorn, Steeljaw, Rewind, and Eject to deal with them. The Transformers: The Movie At some point, Ratbat joined Soundwave's cassette forces; like Laserbeak, he specialized in spy work and reconnaissance, particularly in tight quarters inaccessible to Laserbeak. Secret Files of Teletraan II
After Perceptor detected chronal energy emanating from an asteroid near Cybertron, Rodimus Prime sent a squad of Autobots with him to investigate, including Blaster with Ramhorn and Rewind. They encountered a Quintesson expedition and a school of Sharkticons, which Ramhorn relished in ramming repeatedly. During the fight, however, the Autobots accidentally passed through the Quintessons' Time Window, arriving 11 million years in the past. They met Beta, and took up arms in the original Cybertronian revolution against the Quintessons. They held the line against the Dark Guardians long enough for the Autobots of 2006 to return the revolution's leader A-3 from the future. As A-3 turned the Coder Remote on the Guardians, the Autobots returned to the present through the time window. Forever Is a Long Time Coming
Multiple cassettes with beast modes were part of the combined Autobot-Decepticon force of "primitives" Primacron summoned to defeat Tornedron. Call of the Primitives
Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity
Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers manga
Scramble City cartoon
The Headmasters cartoon
The Headmasters manga
Madman The Transformers comic
Wings Universe
Ladybird Books continuity
While investigating humanity, Laserbeak accidentally collided with some high-voltage power lines, which short-circuited his transformation systems and trapped him in cassette mode. Eventually, he found his way into the possession of a young boy, and wound up in a box of cassettes that would be played at that night's town hall disco. When the disc jockey inserted him into his tape deck, Laserbeak drained the energy from the sound system and used it to re-energize his systems. Laserbeak's Fury
