Nebulon (Headmasters)
| The name or term "Nightstick" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Nightstick (disambiguation). |
- Nightstick is an Autobot Targetmaster from the Generation 1 continuity family.
Nightstick is Ricochet's Targetmaster partner. Originally an engineer from the planet Master, Nightstick volunteered to undergo a unique form of binary-bonding with Ricochet in order to save the Autobot's life when he was fatally wounded. Unlike other Targetmaster partners, who are simply held in the hands of their larger partners, Nightstick plugs directly into a port on Ricochet's back, interfacing directly with his body and serving as a life-support system.
Nightstick transforms into a flame cannon, and utilizes the energy gathered by Ricochet's black body technology to fire blasts of up to 5000°C. This can cause backdraft problems at high speeds, but in another example of the unorthodox nature of their Targetmaster partnership, Ricochet also has an arsenal of other weapons he can rely upon. [1]
Nightstick's name causes him no end of trouble, as he is completely identical to the Decepticon Cyclonus's partner, also named Nightstick. Even worse, Ricochet hangs around with his fellow Targetmaster, Artfire, whose Targetmaster partner is—brace yourself—also named Nightstick!
- Japanese name: Nebulon
Fiction
The Headmasters comic
On Earth, the Decepticon Targetmasters Slugslinger, Misfire and Triggerhappy set a blazing inferno. Chromedome and Daniel were having trouble controlling the fire when Ricochet and Artfire, accompanied by their partners Nightstick and, uh, Nightstick, showed up to help. The blaze was quickly quenched, and the Autobots then sent the Decepticons into a retreat. The Headmasters #7
Toys
Generation 1
- Stepper (Targetmaster, 1987)
- Japanese ID number: C-109
- Nightstick (called "Nebulon") was included with Ricochet (called "Stepper"). Nebulon isn't even a repaint of the Decepticon Nightstick; they're the same toy. He transforms into a single-barrelled, non-firing hand-cannon that can peg into Stepper's car-mode spoiler or attach to a separate bracket mounted over his robot-mode shoulder. This was the only release of the toy in Japan at the time; Cyclonus was never sold as a Targetmaster.
- Ricochet w/ Nightstick (Targetmaster, 2003)
- Japanese ID number: TFC-15
- For the 2003 reissue of Ricochet/Stepper both stateside and in Japan, Nightstick/Nebulon was retooled with a slender peg extension to allow Ricochet to actually hold him in his hand as well as changing the plastic clasp that held his legs in (this part was easily broken) to the more sturdy pin and solid plastic holder.
Notes
- So about the name. Cyclonus and Scourge weren't Targetmasters in Japan, but Takara still sold their weapons, partnered with the Autobots Ricochet and Artfire. Takara carried their names over as well: one was called "Nightstick," the other was called "Nebulon" (which is how Scourge's on-package bio referred to his partner). However, through error or design, the names were switched: the Nightstick-lookalike partnered with Ricochet was called "Nebulon", while Artfire's partner became "Nightstick". To the Japanese audience, of course, this wasn't a problem at the time, but years later, it would get worse...
- When Hasbro released a Commemorative Series Stepper as "Ricochet" in 2003, his partner, Nebulon, was given the "corrected" name of Nightstick. So now, we've got a Decepticon Nightstick, partnered with Cyclonus, an Autobot Nightstick, partnered with Ricochet, and another Autobot Nightstick, partnered with Artfire, since that little guy has never been given a different English-market name!
- The bio of Nightstick at the head of this article is based mostly on info from Ricochet's Japanese Transformers Collection bio. When he was reissued in America, however, Ricochet's bio did not include any information about Nightstick, making him a total cipher as far as English-language continuity goes. Is he an organic Nebulon from Nebulos, like all the other English-continuity Targetmasters? We may never know.
References
- ↑ Ricochet's Transformers Collection reissue bio. Nightstick had gone all but unmentioned in Ricochet's original 1987 bio; this reissue bio finally explained who he was and why he combined with Ricochet in such an odd way.
