Pulse rifle
Pulse rifles, also colloquially known as "pulse guns", were a common type of firearm utilized by Autobots. Specialized variants include electron-pulse rifles, electrostatic pulse rifles, and ion-pulse rifles.
Ion-pulse rifles were also part of the armaments of the colossal Titan Metroplex.
Fiction
Marvel The Transformers comics
Sunstreaker's electron-pulse gun was capable of emitting a beam of highly energized electrons at 300 bursts per second. Sunstreaker's Universe profile
Metroplex could deploy his ion-pulse rifles in both Battle Station and Autobot City modes; they additionally formed Six-Gun's arms. Metroplex's Universe profile
During the Transformers' second battle on Earth at the Witwicky garage, Sunstreaker fired at the incoming Decepticons with his electron pulse gun while Sideswipe took off with his rocket backpack to shoot Thundercracker with his flare gun. Power Play!
Dreamwave Generation One continuity
In robot mode, Sunstreaker was armed with an electron-pulse rifle that fired 300 bursts per Earth second. Sunstreaker's More than Meets the Eye profile
Jazz's Pretender shell was armed with a semi-automatic pulse rifle and deflector shields mounted on each forearm. Pretender Jazz's More than Meets the Eye profile
Both Bristleback's Pretender shell and inner robot were armed with an electrostatic pulse rifle that shorted out an enemy's circuitry, with the potential to cause permanent damage. Bristleback's More than Meets the Eye profile
In all modes Metroplex was armed with ion pulse rifles, alongside an arsenal of other weaponry. Metroplex's More than Meets the Eye profile
Wings Universe
During the Machine Wars, pulse rifles were highly utilized by the understaffed Cybetron Defense forces, such as by Clampdown. After releasing the prisoners, Electro and Mirage, Clampdown equipped Electro with a pulse rifle as he did not trust him with his own sword, or as Clampdown called it, his personal weapon of mass destruction. Later in battle, after Electro was knocked off his feet by Starscream, he ditched the rifle in exchange for the cast aside sword of Megaplex. Termination
Toys
The Transformers
- Metroplex (Autobot City, 1986)
- Accessories: Scamper, Scamper's arms/cannons (x2), Scamper's small laser pistol, Slammer, Slammer's turret, Sixgun's body/tower, Sixgun's chestplate/tower top, 2 red cannons/Sixgun's legs, 2 black cannons/Sixgun's arms, Sixgun's laser pistol, double-barreled cannon, rear tower, shoulder antenna, 2 fists, 2 kneecaps, 3 missiles
- The Transformers Metroplex came with two large black weapons, generically labelled as "accessory cannons" in his instructions and identified as ion-pulse rifles in his packaging bio. These guns also formed the arms for the robot mode of Six-Gun.
- This mold was also used to make Metrotitan and so the ion-pulse rifles would be redecoed to make Metroshot's arms. Whether those are also pulse rifles is unknown.
- The Transformers Fangry came with a black gun, identified as an ion pulse gun in his instructions and packaging bio.
- Jazz (Classic Pretender, 1989)
- Accessories: 2-piece Pretender shell, helmet, laser, rifle
- Classic Pretender Jazz's shell could be armed with a black rifle, identified as a semi-automatic ion pulse gun in his packaging bio.
- Vroom (Mega Pretender, 1989)
- Accessories: large laser, small laser, large wheel, small wheel, sidecar/base
- The Transformers Vroom came with two weapons, identified only as "large laser" and "small laser" in his instructions. However, his packaging bio notes that he is armed with two exterior 3000 rounds-per-minute ion pulse guns in addition to a magnetic repeller rifle and a mind-altering illusionizer.
- Bristleback (Pretender Monster, 1989)
- Accessories: pulse rifle, monster shell, shell backing, right Monstructor fist
- The Transformers Bristleback came with a pale lilac weapon, labelled as a pulse rifle in his instructions and further identified as a rapid-fire, electrostatic, pulse rifle in his packaging bio. It could be mounted on his Pretender shell's back, or held in robot mode. Bristleback's inner robot mold and combiner kibble were also used to make Gairyu and the electrostatic pulse rifle was redecoed to make Gairyu's ankylo gun.
Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers
- Tigertrack (November 2003)
- Accessories: lazer homing SAM launcher, electron pulse gun, 3 missiles
- As a redeco of the original Sideswipe toy, Tigertrack came with the same weapons, including a white rifle, now labelled as an electron pulse gun.
- The base mold was also used to make Clampdown, Deep Cover, and Red Alert.
Universe (2008)
- Sunstreaker (2008)
- Accessories: "Electron Pulse Blaster", engine supercharger intakes
- Part of the first wave of 2008 Universe Deluxe Class toys, Sunstreaker includes a small silver gun referred to as an "Electron Pulse Blaster", but for the sake of consistency, we will assume it's the same as the Electron Pulse Rifle of later releases. This is the same mold as the same line's Sideswipe's flare gun.
Henkei! Henkei!
- Sunstreaker (September 19, 2008)
- Accessories: "Electron Pulse Blaster", engine supercharger intakes
- Released in the fifth wave of TakaraTomy's Henkei! Henkei! toys, this version of Universe Sunstreaker is a redeco of Hasbro's release, with the Electron Pulse Blaster now done in vacuum metallized plastic.
Masterpiece
- Tigertrack (July 2013)
- Accessories: lazer homing SAM launcher, electron pulse gun, two screw driver pile drivers
- Masterpiece Tigertrack is a redeco of MP-12 Lambor. He comes with his hand-held electron pulse gun, which is now silver.
- Clampdown (December 26, 2015)
- Accessories: lazer homing SAM launcher, electron pulse gun, two screw driver pile drivers
- Clampdown came with his own hand-held electron pulse gun, this time in red.
Masterpiece
- Sunstreaker (December 22, 2017)
- Accessories: "Electron pulse gun", "Flare gun" rifle, "Chip Chase" figure, crying alternate face, smiling alternative face, Alien Robot mask, spare side mirrors
- Sunstreaker came with a small black Electron Pulse Pun that can be stored inside an opening compartment on his leg. Notably this is a separate weapon from the also included flare gun.
Notes
- Pulse rifles, while nowadays a staple term for generic science-fiction firearms, are a reference to the M41A Pulse Rifle from the 1986 Aliens movie, which had released earlier in the same year as Metroplex's The Transformers Universe profile, which was the first use of the term within the Transformers franchise. The M41A Pulse Rifles were named as such because they used an electrical pulse action firing system instead of a standard firing pin seen in most modern firearms. Most fictional firearms named after the M41A Pulse Rifle tend to overlook this fact and it is unknown if the pulse rifles within Transformers fiction operate on the same mechanism.
- Due to the Lamborghini brothers evidently swapping molds during the development of The Transformers, Sunstreaker's Universe profile described him with several features of Sideswipe's toy, including a hand-held "electron pulse gun" that the original Sunstreaker toy doesn't include. As Tigertrack was based on the pre-Transformers Diaclone toy that would have represented Sunstreaker before the mold swap, his weapon was named after the one in Sunstreaker's Universe profile. In addition to the 2008 Universe Sunstreaker toy coming with an "Electron Pulse Blaster", which we have decided to list on this page, his Combiner Wars toy came packaged with a much larger "Electron Pulse Cannon".
- For whatever reason, Jazz's Classic Pretender profile in Dreamwave's More than Meets the Eye series replaced his semi-automatic "ion pulse gun" with the more generic pulse rifle. Similarly, the "electron pulse gun" in Sunstreaker's universe profile was renamed to an electron pulse rifle in his Dreamwave profile. Due to all of this, coupled with the existence of an ion-pulse rifle in both of Metroplex's profiles, TFWiki has decided to group them all onto one page to prevent any confusion.
