Rodimus Wars
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| "Rodimus Wars" ロディマス大戦
(Rodimus Taisen) | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | Million Publishing | ||||||||||||
| Published in | Transformers Generations 2015 | ||||||||||||
| First published | November 20, 2015 | ||||||||||||
| Story & art by | Yuki Ohshima | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity | ||||||||||||
| Chronology | 2005 | ||||||||||||
Hot Rod and Dark Hot Rod fight to destroy Shockwave's clone army.
Synopsis
[edit]Following Megatron's defeat in the time travel-filled battles surrounding the Blastizone, he's decided to neutralize Optimus Prime's future successor. Not knowing who this will be, the Decepticons on Cybertron create evil clones of younger Autobots for the purpose of destroying the originals, though the Dark Hot Rod created from Hot Rod turns good after being bathed in the light of the Crystal Fountain. The main clone army overruns the Autobots on Cybertron, and with Optimus Prime still not returned from Earth, they make their last stand on one of the Moonbases. Arcee hopes Hot Rod, currently calling himself "Crystal Rodimus", and his clone can destroy the Decepticons' clone lab, though Springer is skeptical about the turbo-revvin' young punks' chances of success.
Crystal Rodimus and Dark Hot Rod reach the lab and realize it's where Dark Hot Rod was created, though he makes it clear he's all too happy to destroy both his birthplace and his fellow clones. The two are caught by the lab's creator, Shockwave, who identifies Dark Hot Rod as "Clone C-78B" and informs him that the lab's systems are tied to the clones' lifeforce: if it is destroyed, they will perish, Dark Hot Rod included. The specter of death doesn't dissuade Dark Hot Rod, however, as he blasts his way out of Shockwave's grasp and, after telling Crystal Rodimus to take care of Daniel, sacrifices himself by destroying the lab's main computer.
On Dark Hot Rod's death, his essence infuses Crystal Rodimus, whose crystal body shatters to reveal a new body underneath. He hears Dark Hot Rod's voice and realizes they are one and the same now, then announces that together they are "Hot Rod" once more. Shockwave is stunned by the "unscientific" occurrence and attacks Hot Rod, deeming him a potential future obstacle to Megatron, and while Hot Rod dispatches the Decepticon with his buzzsaw arm, he turns out to have been an electronic duplicate. The real Shockwave congratulates him on his victory from afar, telling him the clone army has ceased functioning but that he remains certain that the Decepticons will win the war.
Some time later, Hot Rod goes to Earth and takes Daniel on a fishing trip while thinking about his dream to become an influential cavalier, reflecting that it's not just his dream.
Featured characters
[edit](Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans | Others |
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Notes
[edit]Continuity notes
[edit]- The Blastizone battles took place in Robotmasters, during which Megatron encountered several future Autobot and Maximal leaders who will succeed Optimus Prime. Rodimus Prime was not among them, which is why he doesn't know who to target.
- The end of the comic leads into Hot Rod and Daniel's first scene in The Transformers: The Movie.
Transformers references
[edit]- Most of the clones in this story are based on black keychain redecoes of 1984 Mini Vehicles released in 2003 by Hasbro licensee Fun4All.
- The Tracks clone, on the other hand, is based on the Black Tracks toy.
- Crystal Rodimus and Black Rodimus originate as toys sold at the Tokyo Toy Festival in 2001. The Crystal Fountain mentioned in this story is from the toys' bio.
- C-78B is the ID number of Black Rodimus's toy.
- Shockwave is drawn in accordance to his Masterpiece toy, and starts out with two hands like that toy allows for before losing one to Dark Hot Rod. Hot Rod's new body is likewise that of his second Masterpiece toy.
- Shockwave's ability to create duplicates of himself hails from the Generation 1 cartoon's production bible. It was never used in the cartoon proper except in one debatable instance.
