Violethorn

Violethorn is a Beastformer from the Generation 1 continuity family.

You'd be hard-pressed to find a Beastformer as up-and-at-'em as Violethorn (バイオレットホーン Baiorettohōn). He never misses his daily training, never puts off any task he can do right away, and he will stick to that task until it's complete. He firmly believes that working to make today better ensures a better tomorrow. He's one of the most physically powerful beings on planet Beast, and keeps a friendly competition going with Bluehorse. And with his MVP Weapon Tomahorn (トマホーン Tomahōn) in-hand, he can cleave boulders in two or smash things to a million pieces with ease.

Following the Great War, he became Emperor of Bowdonia, working under his good friend King Bowdog. With the brilliant canine directing Violethorn's monstrous strength, the two make for a powerful pair.

Toys

Beastformers

• Violethorn (Beastformer, 1988)

• ID number: 25
• Pack: G
• Accessories: "Tomahorn" MVP Weapon

Released only in the post-Transformers "RPG"-themed Beastformers sequel series, Violethorn is an anthropomorphic bison in lavender robotic armor. His left arm ends in a two-pronged claw. The Battle Emblem on his chest reveals one of three symbols when warmed up; Fire, Water or Wood.

The Hasbro Battle Beasts release of the figure can come with more blue-tinted purple armor; it's uncertain if the Takara version has similar (minor) paint variation.

As part of the first assortment of individually-boxed Beastformers in the "RPG" line, there was a chance his normal pack-in bio card would be replaced with a rare "Burstsun" holo card featuring White Leo on the front, with a Burstsun Battle Emblem sticker in a little baggie affixed to the back, for you to attach to whichever Beastformer you chose.

• Violethorn (Gacha Beastformer, 1988)

• ID number: 25
• Accessories: Weapon

Many of the first-series Beastformers were also sold in Takara's Gacha capsule machines, Violethorn included, for the same price as the regular boxed releases. This version is identical to the regularly-released boxed version, including the randomized rubsign, except the gashapons appear to have randomized weapons (or just crummy quality control).

According to the pack-in slip that came with the Gacha toys, fifteen of these beasts could also come in rare all-white/cream versions; presumably there is a white version of Violethorn, but it has not been confirmed.

Merchandise

Meiji candy toys

• Violethorn (Gashapon/candy-toy Beastformer, 1988)
  • Meiji ID number: 9
  • Accessories: "Devil Waver" weapon

A small, super-deformed, articulation-free version of Bowdog was sold both as a Gacha capsule prize by Takara (three per capsule for 200 yen), and as a candy toy with chocolate-coated cereal-like corn puff "chocoballs" through the candy/snack company Meiji (two toys per box, for 100 yen). This stumpy lil fellow could be found in red, blue or green plastic, representing the Fire, Water and Wood elements (even though he still had a rubsign). All of the Meiji Beastformers come with a different Beastformer's weapon attached to their shoulder by a snippable sprue. Violethorn comes with Devilbat's "Devil Waver" weapon, while White Leo has Violethorn's "Tomahorn".

The interior of each chocoballs box contains super-brief bio data for two of the twenty possible beasts, as well as rules for three different styles of game: the traditional Fire/Wood/Water deal, a "flick the figures and knock your opponent over" deal, and a more involved game that requires character data from Meiji's other candy-based Beastformers merch, the Battle Cards (see below).

• Ramune Beastformers Battle Card (1988)
  • Meiji ID number: 9

A gold-foil "Battle Card" of Violethorn, featuring painted character art of the kind found on early Transformers: Beastformers bio cards (seen at the top of this page), was available in randomly-packed sets of cards that came with ramune-flavored candy tablets. The back of the card features a severely truncated bio, with data for the game from the Meiji chocoball SD figures' packaging.

Notes

• Violethorn is one of 22 figures that were advertised on multiple Transformers-era materials but not actually released in that iteration of the line.
• His 1988 bio card gives him the nickname "Vio" (バイオ Baio), and notes he was born on the Violet Plateau.

Foreign names

• English: Bloodthirsty Bison