Nightstick (G1)
<div id="title-factionicons" style="float: right; display: none;"><div style="position: relative;"><img alt="" src="/w2/images2/thumb/d/d7/Symbol_decept_reg.jpg/28px-Symbol_decept_reg.jpg" width="28" height="30" border="0"/></div></div>
| The name or term "Nightstick" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Nightstick (disambiguation). |
- Nightstick is a Nebulan and a Targetmaster partner from the Generation 1 continuity family.
Back on Nebulos, Nightstick was a master criminal. For some reason, he gave that up to undergo binary-bonding to Cyclonus. The loyal and honorable Decepticon warrior often finds himself at odds with the very dishonorable Nightstick and generally considers him an irritating pest.
Nightstick transforms into a black beam gun that fires a corrosive beam of blinding darkness (and no, that doesn't make a lot of sense).
The Autobot Ricochet's Targetmaster partner is also named "Nightstick"... and looks identical. This seems a monumental coincidence, but whether there is an actual connection—or if they're perhaps the same individual—is unknown.
Fiction
Marvel Comics continuity
<div style="width: 90%; margin: 0 auto .2em auto; background-color:#efefef; border: 2px solid #eeeeee; padding: 2px; text-align: left;">Note: Events from the UK-only comic stories are in italics.</div> Nightstick became the Targetmaster partner to Cyclonus, under Scorponok's command, near the end of the Decepticons' stay on his homeworld of Nebulos. When the Autobots left Nebulos for Earth, Scorponok's Decepticons followed, as did their Nebulan partners. Brothers in Armor!!
Nightstick remained in Cyclonus's service even after he and Scourge left Scorponok's crew. Shockwave's leadership was periodically threatened by Galvatron, who was also originally from the future, as were Cyclonus and Scourge. Cyclonus and Scourge, desperate to return to 2008, offered their services to Shockwave to protect him from Galvatron, so long as they could take Galvatron's time-jump trigger mechanism when he was defeated.
Nightstick traveled with Cyclonus, Scourge, and Fracas to predetermined coordinates, where they would surround and defeat Galvatron, and along the way they defeated a squad of United States military jets over Oregon. When they arrived in their destination, a human city, Galvatron was surprised that Cyclonus and Scourge did not travel alone, what with their tiny Nebulan companions, and that they dared to challenge him unarmed. He was subsequently surprised when Nightstick and Fracas transformed into the guns of their Decepticon partners. But before the battle could begin, they were interrupted by the sudden arrival of the Wreckers!
Springer did not expect Cyclonus or Scourge to be there, nor that their guns would be able to transform and run away when removed from them. The battle was called off when they realized that Galvatron no longer had the time-jump trigger mechanism, and everyone went home. Wrecking Havoc!
Later, Shockwave learned that the reason Cyclonus and Scourge wanted to return to 2008 was that they were co-leaders of the Decepticons—and that they had assassinated Shockwave to take that position! Shockwave unleashed his pet project on his would-be protectors and assassins, a brainwashed Megatron. Megatron attacked and killed Cyclonus, while he grabbed and squeezed the gun-mode Nightstick, quite likely killing him. Dry Run!
Generation 1 cartoon
- Voice Actor: Peter Cullen (English)
A member of the Hive, Nightstick initially suggested to Lord Zarak that the alien robots who had arrived on Nebulos should be "rubbed out" for "muscling in on our turf". Zarak had other ideas, however, and when a bargain was struck between the Hive and the Decepticons, Nightstick became the Targetmaster partner of Cyclonus. As they paired up, he told Cyclonus "the boys" all called him Nightstick, and he hoped Cyclonus liked "bustin' heads".
During a subsequent battle with the Autobots, Nightstick was briefly captured by Brainstorm, who took a detailed scan of his exo-suit. The information obtained was then used to create the Autobot Targetmasters. The Rebirth, Part 2
Toys
Generation 1
- Cyclonus (Targetmaster, 1987)
- Nightstick is a figure of an armored humanoid in black armor with gray legs. He folds in half to turn into a "black-beam gun" that can be held by any Targetmaster (or any toy that uses 5mm pegs for accessory holding/mounting).
- This mold was used without changes as the Autobot Ricochet's partner Nightstick. (Yes, we know. <a href="#trivia" title="">See below</a>.)
Universe (2008)
Generation 1 Series
- Cyclonus (Deluxe, 2008)
- Part of the fourth wave of Universe deluxes, Nightstick is once again available only with his larger partner Cyclonus, only this time he has some genuine posability, with swivels at the shoulders, elbows and hips. He is a "robot-to-machine figure"<sup id="cite_ref-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-0" title="">[1]</a></sup> that transforms into a "laser cannon" that can be held in Cyclonus's right hand, or mounted on his vehicle mode back, or—in an undocumented feature—plugged into the "wrist socket" created by leaving Cyclonus' right fist in its vehicle-mode position (the left wrist has a similar socket which is just slightly too small). This undocumented combination emulates the "plug into the wrist" method of Targetmaster combination seen in the Japanese Headmasters cartoon (even though this is the first toy to actually be physically capable of such a combination, and Cyclonus wasn't a Targetmaster in that series, but it's still neat).
- Nightstick is based very loosely on his Fracas-based animation model (<a href="#Trivia" title="">see below</a>), if only for the rough shape of his gun mode and the fin on his helmet. Everything else appears to be an entirely new design.
Henkei! Henkei!
- Cyclonus (Deluxe, 2009)
- Japanese ID number: D-07
- This redeco of the Universe mold hews more closely to the animation model's colors, having a mostly black upper body with silver legs, though in this case, the silver is shiny chrome. His primary gun barrel is also chromed silver. He was only available with the Henkei! Henkei! version of Cyclonus. On this release, the gun can plug into either of Cyclonus' wrists, not just the right (see above).This was redecoed into henkei! Strafe's targetmaster partner Daystick
Trivia
- Nightstick and Fracas's character models apparently got swapped around in pre-production, so Nightstick's fictional appearances in both cartoon and comic are based on Fracas's toy, and vice-versa, though unlike Rumble/Frenzy, they got the colors correct.
- As such, Krunix is technically a giant Fracas, not a giant Nightstick.
- Targetmaster Cyclonus's box art shows him holding the Nightstick mold in Fracas's colors; so basically he's got model-sheet Fracas.
- The character model switcharoo may be tied up in the two toys' use in Japan as well. In the Japanese The Headmasters, series, the Hasbro Nightstick toy was sold as Stepper's partner "Nebulon" (the "name" given to Fracas in Scourge's on-package bio), and Fracas was given to Artfire and dubbed Nightstick. Confused yet? It gets worse.
- Here's how it gets worse. When Hasbro released Stepper under the name "Ricochet" as part of the Toys "R" Us exclusive Commemorative Series, they gave Nebulon the name "Nightstick". Without a Hasbro bio for the newly-dubbed Nightstick, it's impossible to determine what relationship Cyclonus's Nightstick has with Ricochet's Nightstick in the Hasbro fiction... if Cyc-Night and Ric-Night are the same, or if Ric-Night is a non-Nebulan robot as he is in his Japanese bio, separate from Cyc-Night. Nguh. (But for this wiki's purposes, Ric-Night gets his own page.)
References
<ol class="references"><li id="cite_note-0">[#cite_ref-0" title="">↑</a> from <a href="http://www.hasbro.com/transformers/default.cfm?page=Products/Detail&product_id=22998 Hasbro's website].</ol>
