Fortress Maximus (G1)
| The name or term "Fortress Maximus" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Fortress Maximus (disambiguation). |
- Fortress Maximus is an Autobot Headmaster City-bot from the Generation 1 continuity family.
Despite his great power, size, and rank, Fortress Maximus is a weary and reluctant warrior. Fighting is against his pacifist nature, even for the most noble of causes. Over time, the endless conflict on Cybertron has worn him down, to the point that he's willing to walk away from the war entirely to preserve himself and his ideals.
Fortress Maximus is big. How big generally depends on the continuity, but often as not he's binary-bonded to a smaller robot named Cerebros who forms his head; Cerebros's own head is formed by Spike.
- Japanese name: Cerebros (see below)
- French-Canadian name: Forteresse Maximus
- Cracked-out English-Malay dub name: Spaceship Bruce (starship mode only)
- Chinese name (Taiwan): Ford / Fort / Furmon
Fiction
Marvel Comics continuity
Generation 1
Fortress Maximus was an architect in his early career, designing and even constructing many works on Cybertron. When the war came, he reluctantly turned his talents to fighting. Transformers Universe profile
During the long absence of Optimus Prime, Megatron, and their respective troops from Cybertron, unit commander Fortress Maximus established a headquarters in the Manganese Mountains and continued the fight against Scorponok's Decepticon contingent.
One fine day on Cybertron, Fort Max's troops staged an ambush on Scorponok's Decepticons, who had just leveled an Autobot city and were marching their prisoners toward the smelting pools. Maximus's troops cut a swath through the Decepticon ranks, quickly driving them into retreat.
| “ | Whether I am a hero or a coward is not the issue! I am weary! My joints creak from the corrosion of war without end! I... cannot break this ring of hate that surrounds us all -- but I can remove myself from it. No matter what you decide... I am leaving. | ” |
—Fortress Maximus announces his decision to quit the war, "Ring of Hate!" | ||
Though his troops were jubilant at their victory, the battle was the last straw for Fortress Maximus. He had become so sick of the war that he decided to leave it. He didn't care if it made him a coward or not, he simply believed that the war would go on regardless of whether or not he was in it. Maximus declared that no matter what the others decided, he was leaving for the planet of Nebulos, a world he had long studied and which seemed to be at peace. His stunned troops agreed, and together constructed a starship dubbed the Steelhaven to propel them across the void.
Fortress Maximus immediately sent Highbrow as an messenger to the Nebulan natives; however, an accident made it appear that the giant robots from outer space came with hostile intent. Some of the more reactionary elements among the Nebulan leadership conspired to make Fort Max's envoy Blurr also appear to have hostile intent, and thus were able to incite their fellow Nebulans to arms.
Fortress Maximus and his troops thus found themselves under a full attack from the Nebulans. Max ordered his troops to not fight back, despite complaints from the likes of Kup, and covered them as they retreated into the woods.
Faced with a newly hostile enemy, Fortress Maximus resolved to wage peace, not war. Gathering ten of his followers, he marched up to the Nebulan capital of Koraja, begged to be heard out, and had his group discard their weapons. When that didn't work, he did the next logical thing and pulled his head off. Four other Autobots also resorted to this grotesque stunt before Galen, head of the Nebulan World Watchers, was convinced they weren't a threat. Ring of Hate!
The five Autobots' heads were stored in a warehouse, and Galen occasionally consulted with Fortress Maximus, keeping him up to date on outside events as anti-robot protests rocked the capital city.
Soon after, a horde of the Autobots' Decepticon foes appeared before the city gates. Max advised Galen that turning the Autobots over to Scorponok would not prevent him from attacking, and under the Autobot-Nebulan peace agreement, Galen could not simply restore the five Autobots to their bodies. But together with Arcana, the pair came up with another plan. Five volunteer Nebulans were bio-engineered to combine with special armor, and transform into likenesses of the Autobots heads, connecting with and controlling them through the Headmaster process. Galen himself became Fortress Maximus's new partner. Fortress Maximus led his newly-enhanced troops against Scorponok, and soundly defeated his numerically superior squad. Broken Glass!
Fortress Maximus remained inert while Galen performed his various duties. He came back online to lead the Headmasters to the Grax Communications Facility, where a number of Nebulans leaders were apparently being held hostage by the Decepticons. It turned out to be a trap, however, as the Decepticons had also become Headmasters, with Galen's rival Zarak now bonded to Scorponok himself. Using several Nebulans as a distraction, Scorpnok's troops overpowered Fort Max and the others, taking them hostage. Love and Steel!
Max remained out of commission until Zarak, briefly overcoming Scorponok's influence on his mind, freed Galen and the other Autobot-allied Nebulans. Fort Max and company smashed their way out of the holding facility, then ran straight into the newly-formed Decepticon Targetmasters. Max briefly lead his troops against the Decepticons, but opted to retreat rather than fight it out. To spare Koraja the carnage of a full-scale fight to the finish, he covered their retreat with the time-honored technique of smashing his enemies with Koraja's metal sculpture of the planet Nebulos.
Returning to the Autobot camp, Max/Galen decided to lead the troops away from Nebulos, knowing that Scorponok would follow. Brothers in Armor!!
During their voyage to Earth, Fortress Maximus underwent a radical reconstruction to alter his size considerably, increasing himself from a slightly tall dude to a very tall dude, about twice the height of the average Transformer. Of course, with his larger scale, Fortress Maximus needed a new head (Galen still being stuck at roughly human size). For this reason, another Autobot, Cerebros, was added to serve as a secondary stage between Galen and Maximus. As the head of Cerebros, Galen could transform Cerebros into the larger head of Fortress Maximus.
Arriving on Earth, Fortress Maximus led his fellow Headmasters to Mount St. Hilary, source of the Autobot distress call that had drawn them to Earth. After recovering the damaged Goldbug, the group encountered Spike, who had come in search of his missing younger brother Buster Witwicky. Spike asked for the Autobots' help in finding his brother, but Fortress Maximus was more interested in their primary mission of locating the Autobots of Earth, and he led his troops off to follow the fuel trail of the missing Ark.
Scorponok's crew soon followed Maximus to Earth, however, and to the same cave. When Spike replayed Goldbug's distress message, Fortress Maximus and company returned to the cave, apologizing to Spike for his failure to consider the danger he had brought to Earth's natives by leading the Decepticons there.
In the ensuing battle, Spike retreated further into the volcano's caves to seek shelter. Scorponok followed, seeking a hostage, and Fortress Maximus pursued him. As the caves narrowed down, Maximus was forced to send Cerebros onward, and eventually Galen himself had to leave Cerebros to cross a fragile rock bridge. Scorponok used the distraction to blast rocks down on Galen, killing him. As the Decepticon leader left, laughing, Galen passed on his control helmet to Spike, allowing the Earthling to assume control of Fortress Maximus and drive the Decepticons off. Trial by Fire!
Spike soon underwent the full binary bonding process and became the leader of the Steelhaven's crew of Autobots. With his new partner, Fortress Maximus led the Autobot Targetmasters in an effort to locate Buster, first visiting his father at a shady motel, then heading to a spot in the tropics where the Decepticons had set up an island base.
With Kup worried about the inexperience of Fortress Maximus's new partner, Max held back while the Targetmasters landed on the island. They were driven back by automated defenses, however, and the island revealed itself to be a rocket ship, launching into the atmosphere with Buster still aboard. Maximus resolved to take matters into his own hands, and took off after the rocket (who knew he could fly?) Unfortunately, once in space, the ship's defenses made shiskabob out of him, forcing Spike to resort to using Cerebros instead. Cerebros was likewise trashed by an attack from Shockwave, though Spike was able to use Maximus's guns to send Shockwave falling to his apparent demise. Maximus and his partners were subsequently rescued by the Targetmasters, and for his gusto, Spike was welcomed as the group's new leader. The Desert Island of Space!
As Fortress Maximus underwent repairs, his crew caught wind of a floppy disk in possession of one Ethan Zachary, which contained the memories and personality of Optimus Prime. With the aid of a computer-generated version of Prime, Fortress Maximus gathered a lot of data from Scorponok's Pretender experiments and gave that ability to some of his own crew. Pretender to the Throne!
With the disk in their possession, Fortress Maximus oversaw efforts to build a new body for Optimus Prime's mind. However, the Steelhaven's resources were depleted after creating the Pretenders, causing the effort to fail explosively. Thus when Hot Rod located the Ark nearby, Fortress Maximus was eager to contact its Autobots and forge an alliance.
Unfortunately, Grimlock developed an immediate dislike for Fortress Maximus, partially because he was a possible threat to Grimlock's leadership, partially because he was part human, and partially because he had a fugitive (Goldbug). He challenged "Fruitloop Multipuck" to a duel for leadership on the moon. Faced with the prospect of a divided Autobot force, Fortress Maximus agreed, though his unhealed injuries made victory an unlikely prospect. Luckily for Max, the imprisoned Blaster agreed to fill in for him.
Ratbat led a Decepticon assault on the Autobots during the duel. While fighting off the attackers, Fortress Maximus ordered Goldbug, Joyride, Getaway, and Slapdash to take the disk to Nebulos to restore Optimus Prime. Totaled!
With Optimus Prime restored, Maximus accepted a subordinate role in the Autobot ranks. He was among those Autobots present as Optimus Prime briefed the troops about the threat of the time-displaced Galvatron. When Optimus and five other Autobots spontaneously and explosively vanished into thin air, only to be replaced by six Transformers claiming to be Autobots from the future, Fortress Maximus immediately assumed command, freaked out, and ordered his troops to destroy the "imposters". (Apparently, his memory was a little rusty, since said "imposters" included his own present-day troops Kup and Blurr.) Maximus sparred with Rodimus Prime until the words of Goldbug, as well as a Matrix-linked Optimus Prime, convinced him that Rodimus was telling the truth when he claimed to be a future Autobot leader. Maximus participated in the subsequent battle against Megatron and Galvatron; he attacked Megatron alongside Grimlock and Swoop, but was quickly put down by the battle-crazed Decepticon. Time Wars
Fortress Maximus provided a floating search platform for Optimus and Blaster as they searched the ocean for the Decepticons' Club Con base. Spike expressed frustration that they still had not located his brother, though Optimus vowed to keep searching. Cold War!
Fort Max was among the many Autobots who responded to an Autobot emergency signal in the Arctic... which turned out to be sent by none other than Buster Witwicky, who was dying of hypothermia. Maximus took his human sibling into a special thermal compartment, restoring his body temperature to normal.
When the Decepticons attacked soon after, Maximus came under attack from the Horrorcons, followed by Ratbat, who clung to him tenaciously and eventually caused Buster to spill out of the warming compartment. This turned out to be a lucky break, as Buster reminded Ratbat that the battle was nothing but a ruse engineered by Starscream. Ratbat and Maximus together called for all the combatants to lay down their arms.
After Starscream seized the power of the Underbase, Fortress Maximus and Soundwave led a team to Buenos Aires to try and stop him. As their troops fell en masse, Maximus attacked Starscream, only to receive a debilitating energy blast in return. His organic component, however, allowed him to survive the first attack. Omega Supreme intervened just then, preventing Maximus from being crushed by a monument hurled by Starscream. Starscream disposed of Omega, and was on the verge of finishing off Maximus, when he was lured away by a radio signal from Buster aboard the Ark. Dark Star
With Buster rescued and the threat of Starscream removed, Spike and Fortress Maximus's tumultuous relationship came to light. Feeling his work with the Autobots was done, Spike tried to go his own way and resume his life, going so far as to pitch his control helmet into a junkyard, but his binary bond could not be left behind so easily. Strange nightmares plagued him, visions of falling into a void. Nor would the Decepticons relent; while on a skiing expedition, he found himself hunted by Carnivac and Snarler. Turning inwards, he found his link to Fortress Maximus remained even without the control helmet and that he could summon the giant warrior from afar. Max left his storage space aboard the Ark and descended to Earth. Despite Carnivac's dirty fighting, Fort Max easily disposed of the two attackers and their Pretender shells, once he and Spike physically recombined. With the battle over, Spike sent Fortress Maximus back to the Ark. The Man in the Machine!
Despite Spike's reconciliation, Fortress Maximus was subsequently out of action for many months or even years. He was still stored aboard the Ark just before the great battle with Unicron, when Grimlock and his Dinobots had returned from Hydrus Four. They had come looking for the rest of the Autobots, but the Ark's scanners were only picking up one Transformer. Weirder still, this Transformer was in two parts! The Void!
After Unicron was defeated, the Ark plummeted to Earth and crashed in the northern tundra of Canada. When Galvatron emerged from the wreckage to wreak havoc, it fell to Fortress Maximus to stop him. He called to Spike, who came. He and Spike went through some mental wrangling before Max convinced Spike to reunite with him once more. Anxious and desperate after so long out of the war, Maximus immediately suppressed his hesitating partner and took full control upon regaining his head. This proved not to be such a wise idea. Fortress Maximus alone wasn't quite ready to deal with the totally insane Galvatron, who started smashing and biting(!) him to pieces. Realizing the power of their combined strength, Spike and Fortress Maximus managed to unite in thought and deed, and defeated the crazed Decepticon. Fortress Maximus stood alone at the battle's end, the last Autobot, guardian of Earth. The Last Autobot?
Generation 2
It was ultimately Megatron who would prove to be the undoing of this giant warrior. The reborn and reconditioned Decepticon leader stole the Ark from its crash site in Canada, and used it as his personal flagship. Realignments While establishing control over the ship, Megatron found and disabled Fort Max's dormant form. Spike sneaked aboard the ship and rejoined with Maximus, but the damage inflicted by Megatron meant they had virtually no chance to win.
Brutally beaten in combat with an upgraded and super-charged Megatron, the pair dragged themselves to the heart of the ship and threw themselves into the anti-matter containment unit at the core of its power supply, killing them both and causing the Ark to explode. All or Nothing!
Though it kept the Ark out of Megatron's hands, and nearly derailed his plans entirely, their effort was ultimately not successful: Megatron escaped aboard a shuttle and lived to fight again, and even had time to take the convalescent Starscream with him. New Dawn Devices and Desires!
American cartoon continuity
- Voice Actor: Stephen Keener
When the Hive of Nebulos had developed the massive Transformer Scorponok in 2007, Spike found that his only available resources to combat the threat were the Hive's older technology and the pacifist Autobot Cerebros. Spike used the technology to create an Autobot giant, at the same time re-engineering Cerebros to become the new robot's head, and to take Spike himself as his own head (Cerebros seemed to get little say in these matters). The giant, named Fortress Maximus, blasted off for Cybertron, where he expectedly fought (and won) against Scorponok. After Maximus/Cerebros and Spike saved Cybertron and Earth from the Hive and the Decepticons, Optimus Prime sent them back to Nebulos as its guardians.
It is unclear if Fortress Maximus had any sentience of his own; he did speak once in his own voice. But for the most part, even Cerebros's will seemed to be pushed aside so Spike could run the whole thing himself. The Rebirth, Part 3
Japanese animated continuity
Kiss Players
A Fortress Maximus from another time inspired the creation of a new Fortress Maximus when he crashed onto Master. Kiss Players
The Headmasters
- Voice Actor: Ikuya Sawaki
Headmasters were human-sized Transformers who had long ago left Cybertron and established themselves on the planet Master in an attempt to escape the Great War. To better survive the harsh climate, they built larger bodies for themselves. They could then transform to become the heads of these more powerful forms. The Headmasters themselves eventually split off factions, some claiming loyalty to the Decepticons, while others held loyalty to the Autobots, though neither group came into contact with Cybertron (or Earth) until 2011.
The leader of the Autobot faction on Master was named Fortress. Fortress took the Headmaster process one step further. Not only did he combine with a larger robot, but that robot could in turn enlarge and become the head of another, much larger robot, the robot form of the Battleship Maximus, thus forming the mighty Fortress Maximus.
Upon meeting again with the Autobots, Fortress quickly became a lead figure not only to his own troops, but to most of the other Autobots in the ongoing war, though he loyally answered to Rodimus Prime. Primarily, he led the other Headmasters into battle, often working away from the other Autobots and handling overly dangerous situations.
When Cybertron was destroyed, Rodimus Prime vowed to search the universe for a new home for the older, non-headmaster Autobots. He passed supreme command of the Autobots—but, interestingly, not the Matrix of Leadership, which he kept on his travels—to Fortress Maximus. Cybertron Is in Grave Danger, Part 2
Fortress wasn't entirely confident that he was the best choice for leader, not because of any discomfort or indecision performing the duties, but due to a certain common tendency to feel like he wasn't worthy. Nevertheless, he led the Autobots against Galvatron and Scorponok decisively and was popular as a leader. While some of the other Headmasters had trouble getting along with humans, Fortress proved himself reasonably friendly, or at least good at making silly faces to amuse children (and talking them into dangerous missions). Fortunately, Arcee was around to help smooth relations on both sides, as well as to help Fortress personally to coordinate and present plans.
In Scorponok's final campaign against the Autobots, Fortress Maximus battled his arch enemy, and thanks in part to Sixshot's intervention, the work of the Autobots as a team, and all the present Autobot troops—along with Daniel Witwicky—lending him their energy and the power of friendship via a Head Formation, he was able to overcome and destroy Scorponok's transtector, as well as his plan to destroy the Earth, sending the Decepticons into retreat once and for all.
Fortress continued to lead the Autobots as they left Earth for good to travel around the galaxy, trying to repair all the damages dealt in the war and to remain vigilant should the Decepticons return. The Final Showdown on Earth (Part 2)
Super-God Masterforce
Fortress was seen briefly and indistinctly as he introduced his brother, Grand Maximus.
Dreamwave comics continuity
A normal-sized Fortress Maximus was a co-leader of the Autobot forces on Cybertron, along with Ultra Magnus. As Cybertron's resources ran low, they struggled to hold the Autobot army together. Destined for Nothing The war continued despite their best efforts, though, and after a fruitless and disastrous skirmish with the Micromaster Skystalker and the Decepticons, Fortress Maximus gave up on the war. He left the Autobot army in order to seek a new path. Victims of the Revolution
A gargantuan Fortress Maximus was also seen in a Matrix-induced vision of future Nebulos by Optimus Prime and Megatron. The War Within issue 4
IDW comics continuity
A slightly less pacifistic Fortress Maximus (Seriously, he repeatedly threatened to kill his prisoners or otherwise "strip them down to their spark cores.") was the warden in charge of Garrus-9, an Autobot-run penitentiary where both Autobot and Decepticon prisoners were kept in containment. As the ultimate imprisonment, each inmate was reduced down to their spark and laser core alone, held inanimate in a storage center known as "The Rig" until such a time as Fort Max deemed to rebuild and release them, if ever.
Fortress Maximus was one of many Autobots across the galaxy who watched a news report heralding the miraculous return of Blaster. Spotlight: Blaster
After Optimus Prime encountered the Monstructor combiners on Omega Supreme's asteroid bunker, he sent them to Garrus-9 with Jetfire and the Technobots, hoping the science team could help the six recover from Jhiaxus's experimentations. Fortress Maximus was dubious of the possible results, but allowed Jetfire and his team to run their tests at Garrus-9. Things changed for the worse, however, once word of the gestalt technology got out, and agents of the Decepticon Secret Service came to claim the remarkable new tech for themselves. Faced with an incredible amount of orbital bombardment and ground warfare, Fortress Maximus and his defensive crew were at serious risk of being overrun.
In order to maintain control of his base, Max reactivated the only Autobot inmate classified as Threat Level-9: Arcee. Knowing Arcee had strong feelings about Jhiaxus and his work from personal experience, Fortress Maximus felt confident she would do anything to prevent the Decepticons from laying claim to the "Monstructor Six". In case he was wrong, though, Fort Max made it clear to Arcee she was lowjacked with synchronized G-forces that would crush her spark if she stepped out of line. Despite Arcee's help, the Combaticons still managed to make off with the gestalt robots. Despite his better judgment, Fortress Maximus allowed Jetfire to convince him that Arcee was the best available to track and intercept the Secret Service ships and retrieve or destroy the gestalt robots. Spotlight: Arcee
When Optimus Prime and Prowl met with Fortress Maximus and Jetfire on Garrus-9 to discuss the prisoners' breakout, also mentioned was that a surviving Decepticon had been tortured. Maximus and Jetfire exchanged guilty glances. Prime left Maximus in charge and returned with Prowl and Jetfire to the Ark-32. Spotlight: Cyclonus
With the death of Nightbeat, Nemesis Prime was forced to enter the living universe and confront Optimus Prime at Garrus-9. Fortress Maximus and the other Autobots were hunkered down in The Last Resort, the most secure, highest-security section of the penitentiary, and he believed that not even a Cortynivian Shadow Worm could get in. He was wrong, as Nemesis effortlessly forced his way in, killed Manta Ray and Drench and shrugged off all Autobot weapons fire. Maximus called in reinforcements until Optimus convinced him that conventional tactics would not work with the undead Prime. Spotlight: Doubledealer
Toys
Generation 1
- Fortress Maximus (Headmaster Base, 1987)
- Fortress Maximus is, by far, the largest Transformers toy ever produced. In robot mode it stands 22" (or 56 cm) tall, nearly 8" (20 cm) taller than its in-fiction rival Scorponok. The original retail price was over $100USD. Taking into account ongoing trends in toy pricing and retail shelf space jockeying, it is highly doubtful any other Transformers even close to this size will ever be made again.
- The toy has multiple alt mode configurations, transforming into a relatively compact "city" mode, and also a secondary mode described in the US instruction as a "battle station." That mode was rebranded as a starship for the Japanese instructions, and is the "default" mode for Fortress Maximus in the Headmasters animated series. Additionally, the 1987 Hasbro toy catalog features a mis-transformed Fortress Maximus in a mode referred to as an "impenetrable fortress," essentially consisting of his city mode with the legs splayed outwards.
- In all modes, Maximus has a wide array of pop-out (non-firing) guns and gimmicks. Its left leg hides a small prison cell, plus has a swing-out cannon/helipad. Its right leg has a small storage compartment. Its torso has a gear-activated spinner for the detachable radar array accessory, a "control socket" for Cerebros' "communications tower" mode, and a working elevator that can lift small toys up to its central ramp to be launched in its altmodes. (The crank for this elevator ends up in a very unfortunate position in robot mode.) Each arm had a long ramp on the back with sliding launchers for small vehicles.
- Its robot-mode head is formed by Cerebros, who does not actually need Spike to attach to the upper body. It came with both Headmaster units, plus the Gasket and Grommet mini-vehicles.
- The Japanese release of Fortress Maximus came with a pair of swords; one for Fortress, a large one for Maximus. It is currently unknown if the swords were originally planned for the Hasbro version but dropped for price or safety concerns, or if they were a Takara-initiated addition to their release of the toy.
- This mold was used to make Super-God Masterforce Grand Maximus, Car Robots Brave Maximus, and Robot Masters "Cybertron Base".
Transform Jr
- Fortress Maximus (1987)
- Japanese ID number: C-114
- Accessories: Fortress Headmaster unit, Photon Rifle
- Transform Jr Fortress Maximus is a smaller rendering of the character, scaled down to regular Transformer size, and with only one head. Fortress Maximus could only transform from his starship mode to his robot mode, as his legs lack the joints to fold into city mode. Much of his detail and accessories have been simplified into stickers, such as his shin cannons. He comes with only one weapon, his large blue photon rifle.
- This toy was also available in a leaders three-pack with Chromedome and Convoy
Merchandise
- Fortress Maximus was a larger "build-a-bot" from the third "Act" of the Super Collection Figure PVC line; one piece of it was packaged in each of the six clear pieces in a case of twelve. Like the regular PVCs, it was available both in full-color or colorless-clear versions.
- The Fortress Maximus PVC was revisited for Hasbro's Heroes of Cybertron line, again as a pack-in, one part in each of the six releases of wave four. This version was cast entirely in clear-blue plastic then painted over, save a small spot on his head to give him a "light-pipe" glowing-eyes effect.
- Torso: Dirge
- Head & sword: Perceptor
- Left arm: Powermaster Gigatron
- Right arm: Wheeljack
- Left leg: Autobot Jazz
- Right leg: Autobot Espionage Team (Bumblebee & Spike)
Trivia
- "Fortress Maximus" was an early name for the characters that eventually became Omega Supreme and Metroplex. The Marvel comic adaptation of the 1986 Movie even refers to Autobot City as "Fortress Maximus" in a caption.
- Fortress Maximus was the first toy to be released with a bona-fide Earthling figure. All of the other Headmasters' companions were from Nebulos. (Although Maximus's on-package bio refers to "the Nebulan leader, Spike", the general consensus is that it was supposed to be the popular figure from TV and other media, who is almost certainly an Earthling.)
- When Spike transforms to join Fortress Maximus for the last time in the Generation 2 book, Cerebros is not shown, and Spike transforms directly into Fortress Maximus's head. Maximus is shown to be no larger than Megatron. In real-life terms, it's an obvious series of art errors; in the context of the story, one might wonder if Maximus was reduced back to his original, smaller, size. It seems improbable, considering that Spike had been retired for years by that point.
- Fortress Maximus has the distinction of having one of the most well known Transformers bootleg versions in existence. While Cerebros has been omitted, the Spike figure is the same, and the body has been scaled down to match, effectively making the body compatible with any other Headmaster head. It also fetches absurd prices for a bootleg.
- In America, Fortress Maximus is seven distinct flavors of awesome, while in Japan, he is only 3 kinds of awesome.
- The Battleship Maximus bears a slight resemblance to the White Base, a battleship from the Gundam franchise.
- Both Scorponok and Fortress Maximus suffer from the writers struggling to reconcile the characters' high rank with their size. In their comic appearances, they are portrayed as commanders in some capacity but are shrunk down to interact with other Transformers, and their city modes pretty much don't exist. Conversely, the cartoons have opted to portray them as giant city Transformers, though they seem to be merely extensions of the smaller beings that bond with them, with no real life or will of their own.
External links
- Pages with broken file links
- Pages with image sizes containing extra px
- Character stubs
- Autobot leaders
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- City Transformers
- Generation 1 characters
- Generation 1 locations
- Headmasters
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