User:Locoman/Sandbox/Mini-Cassette
| “ | In the days of Megatron, Decepticons developed the art of espionage using cassette technology. [...] The Autobots have no choice but to strike back at these Decepticon techniques of stealth, building a force of cassette Transformers of their own, with Blaster as their guardian. | ” |
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 cassette technology and created their own army of cassette Transformers. Ratbat also 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 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 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, including new arrivals Overkill and Slugfest, 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
Ravage attacked Kenji and Bumblebee in Tokyo while the rest of the Autobots were occupied by Megatron's forces. Powerglide managed to sweep Kenji to safety, but Bumblebee was then confronted by Rumble, Laserbeak and Ratbat as well. Bumblebee managed to evade the Cassettes long enough for Ironhide and Cliffjumper to arrive as back-up. Using a patented Bumble Kick, the small Autobot damaged Soundwave's chest compartment, so that when Ravage and the others attempted to hide from the Autobots inside their master, they bounced fruitlessly off of Soundwave. Cliffjumper was able to grab them while they were still in their cassette forms, pulling out their magnetic tape. Harsh. Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers #2
When the Stunticons attempted to frame the Autobots for their evil deeds, Rumble and Frenzy appealed directly to the human race for Decepticon support. Disguised in full-body cloaks and masks, they staged rallies against the Autobots and convince mankind that the Decepticons were their true friends. Their ruse was soon uncovered by Eject and Rewind, who ripped off the Decepticons' robes to reveal their true selves. Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers #7
Scramble City cartoon
The Headmasters cartoon
The Mystery of Planet Master The Great Cassette Operation Cybertron Is in Grave Danger, Part 1 The Dormant Volcano Mysteriously Erupts Explosion on Mars!! MegaZarak Appears Head Formation of Friendship The Emperor of Destruction Vanishes on an IcebergMiraculous Warriors, Targetmasters (Part 1) The Final Showdown on Earth (Part 2)
The Headmasters manga
As the Autobots prepared to leave Earth and pursue Scorponok's forces into space, Soundblaster of all the Decepticons stayed behind to continue tormenting humanity. He dispatched Overkill and Slugfest to attack the Witwickys but they were, um...overpowered by Daniel Witwicky. After Chromedome blasted Soundblaster into the distance, his remaining Cassettes crowded around the Decepticon tapedeck as he shook the stars from his eyes. The Headmasters #8
Madman The Transformers comic
In the year 2001, Soundwave unleashed his army of new Mini-Cassettes to steal the Autobot Matrix of Leadership from a secure bunker at the construction site of Autobot City on Earth. They were interrupted during their excavation by Hot Rod, who successfully disabled Soundwave and his various helpers before retrieving the Matrix. The Transformers
Wings Universe
Laserbeak, the first Recordicon, was originally an ordinary Cryo-Condor who was captured and physically modified to transform into an alternate mode: an ordinary datatrax wafer, and his success led to the creation of Ravage and Buzzsaw, more re-engineered specimens of Cybertronian wildlife. Millions of years later, after the Transformers in stasis lock onboard the Ark reawakened on Earth, the Autobots retaliated by engineering an army of "Recordabots", leading to an arms race between the two factions. Menagerie #1
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
Beast Wars cartoon continuity
Beast Wars cartoon
Although he would be reformatted into a humanoid Predacon body at some point after the end of the Great War, Ravage retained the ability to transform into an audio cassette, and did so during his attack on the Axalon to slot himself into a tape deck on the bridge of his transwarp cruiser. The Agenda (Part 2)
Dawn of Future's Past
The Predacon Divebomb granted Laserbeak, Buzzsaw, and Ravage a new lease on life by rebuilding them with new Predacon bodies. BotCon 2006 Laserbeak profile card The Predacon Megatron's theft of the Golden Disk was closely watched by Divebomb, who sent Laserbeak and Buzzsaw to ensure Megatron and his rogues reached their destination. Their ship intercepted the Axalon and pummelled with missiles, but before they could make another pass, the Chromia 10 bought enough time for the Maximals aboard to restore power, return fire, and completely destroy Laserbeak and Buzzsaw's ship, with the pair inside. Dawn of Future's Past
Dreamwave Generation One continuity
The origin of the Mini-Cassettes as a whole is unknown. Warriors like Laserbeak and Ravage were seen working with Soundwave in their standard capacity since the beginning of the war. The War Within The sole exception is Ratbat, who was once a high-ranking Decepticon, and the leader of his own independent faction during the Dark Ages. War Within: The Dark Ages At an unknown point in history, Ratbat was apparently converted into a Mini-Cassette as punishment for some unknown offense. Countdown to Extinction
During the Age of Internment, Blaster and his Mini-Cassettes were allied with Perceptor and the remaining free Autobots against Megatron. Their twin goals were to bring down the legions of the Aerospace Extermination Squadron, and somehow locate the long-missing Optimus Prime. The Age of Wrath Pt.2
Besides Ratbat, the Decepticon Mini-Cassettes were sent into stasis lock with Soundwave and the rest of the Nemesis' crew for four million years on the planet Earth. They reawakened in 1984 to battle Optimus Prime and the crew of the Ark. Prime Directive When the Transformers eventually returned to Cybertron, the Mini-Cassettes went with Soundwave under the new command of Shockwave. After Starscream made a proposal to strike out on their own, however, they turned against Shockwave. Part of the deal was Starscream reuniting Soundwave with Ratbat, whom he had apparently already used as a Mini-Cassette in the past. The Mini-Cassettes returned to Earth with Soundwave and the Seekers. War and Peace Megatron eventually returned, reclaiming leadership from Starscream, with the help of Soundwave and the Mini-Cassettes. The Route of All Evil
The Autobot Mini-Cassettes later joined Blaster as part of another rebellion, this time against Shockwave and the corrupt Unified Cybertronian government. Countdown to Extinction
