Scourge (ROTB)
| The name or term "Scourge" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Scourge (disambiguation). |
- Scourge is a Terrorcon from the Rise of the Beasts portion of the Movie continuity family.
Scourge is the cunning, ruthless, and treacherous leader of the Terrorcons and the most fearsome hunter in the universe. Scourge commands his Terrorcons to pillage and leave chaos in their wake, to continue their mission to conquer thousands of worlds under Unicron's command. He is a ferocious but patient killer who makes sure that all who oppose him or his master will die, and his body is covered with insignias claimed as grisly trophies of his many kills. However, make no mistake, Scourge is Unicron's servant, and any failure on his part is immediately punished with extreme pain. It is a testament to Scourge's skill that he rarely fails.
As part of his servitude to the dark god, Scourge has been imbued with a dark energy that gives him power beyond the measure of most ordinary Transformers, making him all but invulnerable. In the event any would-be victim attempts to escape his grasp, he is capable of infecting them, slowly and painfully corrupting them into a puppet for his will. On occasions when he is unable or unwilling to reach his targets, he is able to deploy a pair of fearsome Freezers from within his body to sniff out his prey for him.
| “ | I enjoy that look of confusion when an inferior being meets a higher power. | ” |
—Scourge is confident in his superiority, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts | ||
Fiction
Rise of the Beasts film
- Voice actor: Peter Dinklage (English), Idzi Dutkiewicz Sánchez (Latin American-Spanish), Jérémie Covillault (European French), Thiéry Dubé (Canadian French), Gianluca Iacono (Italian), Wellington Lima (Brazilian Portuguese), Claus-Peter Damitz (German)
Scourge hailed from a world that was destroyed by Unicron, leaving him as the only survivor. He sold his soul to the monster planet and became his most terrifying hunter, becoming known throughout the universe.
Under orders from his master Unicron, Scourge infiltrated the jungle planet inhabited by the Maximals to retreive the Transwarp Key. After most of the Maximals escaped using the key's power, the dark warrior murdered Apelinq in revenge; scalping off his insignia to decorate his left shoulder.
Centuries later, Scourge was drawn to Earth by the recently activated Transwarp Key, taking his loyal Terrorcon accomplices Battletrap and Nightbird with him. After instructing his drone-like Freezer bodyguards to sniff out the Autobots' human companions, Scourge would engage with Optimus Prime alongside Battletrap and Nightbird. Despite the Autobots' valiant efforts, Scourge managed to outperform Optimus in combat. Before fleeing with the Transwarp Key, Scourge would further taunt Optimus by incapacitating Bumblebee using his grapple-like hand.
Scourge reported back to Unicron with the retrieved key, only to discover that the Terrorcons only had half of the actual key; split by the Autobots as a last resort against Unicron's servants. Unicron mentally tortured the Terrorcon leader as punishment, demanding that his followers return with the completed key.
Eventually, the Terrorcons arrived in Peru to track down the Autobots and their human allies, with Scourge deploying two Freezers to capture the humans. The Terrorcons chased the Autobots on the Peruvian highway, culminating in Scourge tackling Prime down the mountain. Before the Autobots escaped Scourge's advances, he infected the Maximal Airazor with Unicron's foul energy, eventually corrupting her and forcing Optimus to kill her. Following Noah's reluctant attempt to destroy the other half of the Transwarp Key, Scourge stole it and relocated with his minions to a local volcano, using the complete key's power to create a giant tower thing capable of allowing Unicron to enter Earth's atmosphere.
After summoning a giant army of Freezer troops, Scourge stood his guard at the tower's control panel. After severely weakening Mirage, the lone Autobot would reshape into an exosuit for his human partner Noah. Scourge would eventually be overpowered by the combined forces of Noah and Prime, leaving his charred corpse within a flow of lava. However, Scourge managed to destroy the tower's portal control panel before his death. Rise of the Beasts
Toys
Studio Series
- Scourge (Leader Class, 2023)
- Movie: Rise of the Beasts
- Hasbro ID number: 101
- TakaraTomy ID number: SS-109
- Accessories: Cannon, left arm
- Known designers: Sam Smith and Evan Brooks (Hasbro), Takashi Kunihiro (TakaraTomy)[1]
- Released as part of the eleventh wave of Studio Series Leader Class figures, Scourge transforms into a frightening truck in 31 steps. Scourge is compatible with the Core Class Freezer figure as a blaster for his hand and in his truck bed. His left arm can detach at the elbow so it can be replaced by his gun attachment.
- Like the majority of Studio Series figures from Rise of the Beasts, Scourge is based on early concept art, evident by his neck, mouth, and the inaccurate chest section/truck grill.
- The hexagonal hinges required for transformation, added with the fact that Scourge's truck cab is entirely clear plastic, can cause the plastic to crack. As there are no known fixes at this time (if any even exist), exercise caution when transforming the figure.
- Hasbro revealed the figure on January 30, 2023.
Buzzworthy Bumblebee
- Scourge (Smash Changers, 2023)
- TakaraTomy name: Papapatto Change Scourge
- TakaraTomy ID number: BPC-EX
- TakaraTomy release date: April 15, 2023
- Buzzworthy Bumblebee Smash Changers Scourge is a retool of Smash Changers Optimus Prime, changing from a cab-over Mad Max-esque truck to robot in three kinetic auto-transforming steps. Manually converting the toy back into truck mode takes eleven steps. He features limited articulation on the elbows.
- In Japan, this toy was released as a Toys"R"Us Japan Exclusive.
Rise of the Beasts
- Scourge (Battle Changers, 2023)
- Known designers: Koki Yamada (TakaraTomy)
- Released as part of the "Beast Alliance" subline for Rise of the Beasts, Battle Changers Scourge is a simplified 5 inch toy that converts from robot to truck in 7 steps.
- Scourge & Predacon Scorponok (Beast Combiners, 2023)
- Known designers: Koki Yamada (TakaraTomy)
- Released in the second wave of "Beast Combiners", Scourge converts from robot to post-apocalyptic truck mode in 7 steps, and is packaged with Scorponok, who combines with Scourge to form his armor in 6 steps. Scorponok's tail section detaches to form a weapon for Scourge to wield. Scourge is also compatible with any other Beast Combiners beast-partner.
- Scourge (Titan Changer, 2022)
- Titan Changer Scourge is an extensive retool of The Last Knight Titan Changer Optimus Prime, turning from a robot to a truck in 4 steps.
Notes
- Scourge's alt-mode was first revealed via Steven Caple Jr.'s Instagram account on 6 October 2021, along with the other two senior Terrorcons, Battletrap and Nightbird.
- Scourge's design as a large evil semi-truck evokes the Robots in Disguise holder of the name. It's also worth noting that this series's Megatron also adopted a similarly Mad Max-esque truck form during the events of Dark of the Moon.
- Scourge's grill is decorated with insignia "trophies" taken from his slain enemies, which transform into his arms and shoulders in robot mode. Looking closely, one can identify Autobot, Decepticon, Maximal, Mercenary, Predacon, Terrorcon, and Wrecker (specifically the two-hammer symbol used in the 2019 IDW design) insignias. This may be a reference to the 1971 film Duel (directed by Steven Spielberg), which featured a similar evil truck with "trophies" along the grill in the form of license plates (and Duel has been referenced in Transformers before).
- Scourge being imbued with "dark energy" that makes him stronger by Unicron is possibly a reference to Dark Energon, which has shown similar effects and is also connected to Unicron.
- As evidenced by one of Unicron's lines in the film, Scourge's homeworld was consumed by his master just like the Maximal planet was, implying he most likely hails from another one of Cybertron's colony worlds.
- In a similar note, since the Maximals are strongly hinted to be time-travellers from the future, so is Scourge, though the details and mechanics behind such implication are never touched upon by the film itself.
Foreign names
- Japanese: Scourge (スカージ Sukāji)
References
- ↑ Design notes on Studio Series Scourge from Hasbro designer Sam Smith on Instagram
