Meltdown (G1)
| The name or term "Meltdown" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Meltdown (disambiguation). |
- Meltdown is a Decepticon Micromaster from the Generation 1 continuity family.
Meltdown is always angry, all the time. A barely-controlled ball of sheer rage, Meltdown only knows one strategy: to charge in, ram his opponents, then transform into robot mode to bludgeon them to death. His angled armor helps him to deflect enemy projectiles as he storms into battle to get up close and personal with the next Autobot he intends to eviscerate. He regards his violent behavior as a perfectly sensible approach to anger management.
Unfortunately for Meltdown, his combiner partner is Half-Track, whose job it is to shoot down Autobot aircraft from afar. Meltdown rarely sticks to the plan, and his reckless berserker charges frustrate his commander Direct-Hit to no end. On the other hand, Meltdown usually emerges from his oil-soaked melees triumphant - whereas following his commander's terrible plans rarely ends well for anyone. Sometimes all the pent-up frustrations of life just get to him, to the point where he'll literally blow a gasket and pop one of his cerebro-circuits, taking him out of action until he can be repaired.[1]
Fiction
Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity
Meltdown was an Autobot and member of the Tank Team portion of the Jet Tank W Team. Both pairs were fast in their respective battlefields and had a special gunpowder that they could use to destroy anything in their pincher attacks between land and air. Return of Convoy bio
Regeneration One
Meltdown was a member of Soundwave's group of Neo-Decepticons at Fort Scyk in Polyhex. Counterpoint
Beast Wars: Uprising
Meltdown was stationed at a trans-hyperwave caster station in Proximax. When the Antares Eight stormed the tower, Vamp strafed Meltdown's position in vehicle mode, taking down the Micromaster guard. Cultural Appropriation
Toys
The Transformers
- Battle Squad (Micromaster Combiner Squad, 1990)
- Meltdown transforms into an armored truck, which is intended to be the front half of a blue anti-aircraft half-track that he forms with his combiner partner Half-Track. He can, of course, be connected to any other Micromaster Combiner.
- Meltdown was only available in a six-pack with his squad mates Half-Track, Direct-Hit, Fireshot, Power Punch, and Vanquish.
- Jet Tank W Team (Micro Trailer team, 1991)
- ID number: C-369
- Accessories: Micro Trailer #9
- Meltdown is physically identical to the Hasbro-release, transforming into a Humvee-like armored car. Though Half-Track nominally forms the back half of their combined vehicle mode, Meltdown can combine with any other Micromaster Combiner, Combiner Transport or Micro Trailer in vehicle mode to form new weird vehicles.
- He was only available (in Japan at least) in a complete set with Half-Track, Fireshot and Vanquish. The set also comes with Micro Trailer #9, an accessory that uses a spring-loaded mechanism to launch Micromasters, and can also be carried by Sky Garry or stored within Grandus. It can also be "towed" by any Micromaster Combiner in their half-a-vehicle form. Like all Return of Convoy characters, he was marketed as an Autobot instead of a Decepticon.
Notes
- Meltdown and Half-Track are unique among the Micromaster Combiner molds in that as individuals, they actually transform into fully-functional separate vehicles rather than half of a vehicle.
Foreign names
- Japanese: Meltdown (メルトダウン Merutodaun)
- French: Fondue (Canada)
- Italian: Lampo
