Shrapnel (G1)
| This article is about the Generation 1 Insecticon. For the Cybertron character, see Shrapnel (Cybertron). |
- Shrapnel is a Decepticon Insecticon in the Generation 1 continuity family, family. He is sometimes known as Sharpshot, shot.
The eccentric way in which Shrapnel parses his dialogue may seem endearing at first, first. Others are soon to discover that his seemingly benign tic is merely the gateway to a frighteningly twisted and perverse mind, even for a Decepticon, Decepticon. A master of electricity, his dark desires put this skill to use on his victims, victims. Nothing delights him more than to see how they squirm from his touch, touch.
- French-Canadian name: Éclats D'Obus
- Portuguese name (Portugal comic): Estilhaço
- Portuguese name (Brazil comic): Metralha / Estilhaço
- Italian name: Rantrox
- Japanese name: Sharpnel (シャープネル Shāpuneru)
Fiction
Cartoon continuity
- Voice actor: Hal Rayle (English), Masashi Ebara (Japanese), Toshio Ishii (Japanese, The Transformers: The Movie only)
The mercenary Insecticons landed on earth in their own space pod before the Ark crashed to Earth. (It is unclear whether this pod was launched from the Nemesis or not, as the dialogue seems to suggest maybe it was, but the Insecticons and Megatron's Decepticons do not seem to know each other.) Their pod crashed into the region that would become known as "Demon Swamp" and their idento-computers adapted them to transform into insects and eat organic food to survive. Though they were largely communal, Shrapnel was a leader among then, usually alternating with Bombshell (Kickback was out of luck). The "Insecticons" apparently lived in the swamp for millions of years until discovered by Megatron's Decepticons. They form an uneasy alliance with Megatron, never coming fully under his command but working with the Decepticons when they could be convinced there was something (usually food) in it for them. A Plague of Insecticons
The Insecticons were able to create vast clone armies of themselves at will, a formidable ability that may have been the reason they were able to maintain their autonomy from Megatron. They would use this ability once to create the Insecticon Army which early devastated the planet Earth but they were destroyed by the Morphobots. Quest for Survival Even before this, they were shown to be very duplicitous and often betrayed Megatron or disobeyed him.
During the Combaticons' attempt at destroying Earth by sending it into the sun, the Insecticons were seen in large numbers, numbers, again and Shrapnel was responsible for taking apart the Space Bridge controls. He would later be tracked, tracked, by the combined Autobots and Decepticons after which he relinquished the controls. The Revenge of Bruticus
Shrapnel, along with his Insecticon colleagues, attacked Autobot City on Earth, where he was badly damaged and dumped into space from Astrotrain. His floating body would be reformatted by Unicron into one of Galvatron's minions. But that didn't stop him from showing up later on Junkion and threatening Daniel. The Transformers: The Movie He also somehow appeared on Chaar after the Decepticons' defeat to nibble on some energon cubes Five Faces of Darkness, Part 1, and he tried to stop Sky Lynx from returning Metroplex's transformation cog. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 5 Much later, Soundwave briefly spoke using Shrapnel's voice and speech pattern for no reason. Fight or Flee
Marvel Comics continuity
Shrapnel was one of the top lieutenants of Lord Straxus at Darkmount on Cybertron, acting as his Executive Officer and supervising both the technicians that translated Soundwave's message from Earth & assisting on the Space Bridge project. He was also was responsible for capturing Autobot spy Scrounge before he could report back on the whereabouts of Spanner. Despite his rank, Straxus used Shrapnel's face as a stress ball when things went wrong The Smelting Pool! and was willing to send him on a suicidal janitorial mission once simply out of petty spite, but Shrapnel managed to talk his way out of it. The Bridge to Nowhere!
In addition to his high rank, he was one of the most feared and dangerous killers on Cybertron, a key target for the Autobot resistance. The rebel plan Operation: Volcano was kicked off when Shrapnel tortured the information of a (fake) rebel meeting out of an informant, but was ruined by Megatron calling the Insecticons to Earth. (Yes, they were called Insecticons and had insect-like alt forms on a planet with NO INSECT LIFE.) Target: 2006 Shrapnel arrived on Earth to play a key role in the Hoover Dam battle, and afterwards served on Earth under Megatron permanently. Aerialbots over America!
Then he served under Shockwave, Ratbat, possibly Scorponok, Bludgeon, Megatron again... all while doing absolutely nothing of note besides being uncommonly easy to spot in crowd shots. He may have been killed by the Underbase-powered Starscream, or alternatively he could've just been really lazy and not gotten involved with things—he's one of Cybertron's deadliest killers, what does he have to prove?
Earthforce
Shrapnel and his Insecticon buddies served under Megatron in the Decepticon Civil War, but their spying mission against Shockwave was foiled by Starscream. Shrapnel got in a good electrified shot at Starscream's bum first, but then he caught them in a rustbug hoop. The treacherous Seeker then drafted them into helping him set up a clash between the two leaders. Bugged!
Beast Wars cartoon
While temporarily out of his mind (well, more than usual, anyway), the Predacon Waspinator believed himself to actually be Shrapnel, and adopted his mannerisms and speech pattern, pattern. Dark Designs
Dreamwave comics continuity
Shrapnel was part of an assassination unit alongside Kickback, Bombshell, Soundwave and Ravage shortly after the rise of Optimus Prime. He and his partners were assigned to eliminate the new Prime, steal the Matrix, and bring it to Megatron so that he could turn Cybertron into a cosmic dreadnought and conquer the universe. Spoiler alert—it didn't work. The War Within During the Dark Ages after Megatron's disappearance, Shrapnel served with the main Decepticon faction under Shockwave's command. One time Slag sucker-punched him so hard, Shrapnel's colors went wrong. Conflagration
Shrapnel was part of a unit sent to Earth by Shockwave to guide the planet's development and prepare it for invasion. He and his team changed their alternate modes to giant insects (from his original "jet with antennae" mode). They were beaten up by the Dynobots on arrival, then played dead until Grimlock got bored and wandered off. Extermination
Millions of years later, they were discovered by both the EDC and Autobots after kidnapping an entire town. Over the preceding few thousand vorns, Shrapnel had apparently lost control of the Insecticons unit, with Bombshell gathering more and more power for himself without Shrapnel even recognizing it. Kickback pointed this out, but the Autobot incursion prevented the conversation from going any farther. Shrapnel was last seen getting a building dropped on him by Sideswipe. Extermination
Devil's Due G.I. Joe vs the Transformers comics continuity
In an alternate future where the Decepticons had conquered Earth, swarms of Insecticons, including Shrapnel-type ones, was a constant menace. G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers II issue 3
In the regular timeline, as part of Serpent O.R.'s forces, Shrapnel defended the newly unified Decepticon army's base against a combined Autobot/G.I. Joe strike force. The Art of War issue 5
IDW comic continuity
Shrapnel, Bombshell and Kickback were created by Deluge, under supervision by Megatron. The Insecticons joined Megatron's forces on Earth, where they helped defeat and capture the local Autobots. The Decepticons then shipped their prisoners off to Cybertron via space bridge, intending to feed them to the failed Insecticon creations known as the swarm. All Hail Megatron #7
The Insecticons then participated in the attack on New York City, during which Shrapnel took part in destroying some human jets. All Hail Megatron #1 After listening to Megatron's victory speech All Hail Megatron #4, the Insecticons traveled to China and helped wreck Beijing. There, Shrapnel and Kickback sided with Bombshell when he picked a fight with Skywarp and Thundercracker, but the three bugs decided to drop the subject and run away when faced with Skywarp's teleportation ability. All Hail Megatron #6 After returning to New York, the Insecticons were approached by Starscream, and Shrapnel demanded to know what the Seeker wanted with them, although Bombshell chastised him for being rude to a superior officer. Starscream apologized to the three for their treatment at Skywarp and Thundercracker's hands, then decided it was time to tell them about his vision of the future. All Hail Megatron #8
The Insecticons subsequently joined Starscream as he rebelled against Megatron, and Shrapnel blasted his former leader with lightning. Unfortunately, this did minimal damage to Megatron, who responded by shooting Shrapnel with his fusion cannon. All Hail Megatron #10 The revolt was cut short when human jets from Europe attacked and the Autobots returned from Cybertron unharmed, All Hail Megatron #11 leading to the Decepticons' defeat. All Hail Megatron #12 As they fled the planet aboard Astrotrain, Shrapnel showed Starscream that Megatron was still functioning, which did not please the Seeker in the least. Shrapnel volunteered to stealthily kill Megatron by siphoning his energon, but Starscream felt assassination wouldn't work in his favor. When he saw that Starscream was going to throw the Autobot Matrix of Leadership down a garbage chute, Shrapnel was shocked and convinced him to keep the artifact as a synbol of leadership. Uneasy Lies the Head
IDW Hearts of Steel continuity
The Decepticons, including Shrapnel, fought against the Autobots in Earth's distant past until an Ice Age forced them to shut down and wait it out. They awoke in the late 19th century when a failed human submarine crashed onto their submerged ship. Hearts of Steel issue 1 As the Decepticons' human ally required money to help them, Starscream ordered the Insecticons to provide some. Shrapnel disguised himself as one end of the "Insectrain", providing the combined mode with a pair of giant scissor blades to destroy other trains on the railway. The Insecticons robbed a train carrying cash and bullion from the Denver Mint, and despite not seeing the value in human currency, they stuffed Shrapnel's chest cavity full of money and gold. They delivered the stolen property to Starscream and Tobias Muldoon the following morning. Hearts of Steel issue 2
Toys
Generation 1
- Shrapnel (Insecticon, 1985)
- Japanese ID number: 42
- Shrapnel transforms into a robotic stag beetle. He doesn't do a whole lot more than that. Like the other Insecticons, he has a variation on his chromed parts, but this one is on his gun. Some Shrapnels have "fins" on the very back-end of the rifle and a more detailed main barrel, while others (obviously) lack those details. The extra-detail versions appear to be a later run.
- In Japan, Shrapnel and the other Insecticons were "re-released" as mail-order items from 1987 through 1988. They each cost 880 yen (their normal retail price) and two Robot Points.
- This mold was used to make the Zaptrap drones.
- Insectrons ("Bookbox" multi-pack, 2004)
- Japanese ID number: 16 (full set)
- Shrapnel was released as part of the Japanese Transformers Collection series in a set with Bombshell and Kickback. This set also included three energon cube accessories that fit inside their chest compartments.
- The Shrapnel in this set has the lower-detail rifle, probably in order to keep it closer to the original-original release, particularly for the redeco.
- Insecticons (Toys-R-Us multi-pack, 2009)
- Shrapnel was released as part of the Universe line, as a Toys"R"Us exclusive, in a set with his Insecticon pals. Like with his 2007 Robot Heroes incarnation (see below), Shrapnel has been renamed for trademark reasons, this time to "Sharpshot". Likewise, Bombshell's name has been changed to "Hardshell", a name previously used for his Robot Hero.
Merchandise
Decoy
- Shrapnel (Decoy, 1987)
- Shrapnel was one of the Decepticon Decoys packed in with smaller carded Transformers toys. While the normal purple version could be included with any Decepticon toy, the rarer red version was available only on Throttlebot cards and only for a short while before the switch to purple.
- Destron Hero Collection-22 Set (Decoy multi-pack, 1987)
- The entire run of twenty-two Decepticon Decoys were sold as a single boxed set in Japan, only in purple.
Hard Hero
- Shrapnel (2003)
- The second installment of Hard Hero's "Insecticon Series", Shrapnel is a 9-inch cold-cast porcelain statue sculpted by Jason Ray. Only 1000 pieces of the statue were produced.
Robot Heroes
- Rodimus Vs. Insecticon (2007)
- As part of the Robot Heroes line of PVC figurines, "Insecticon" (so named because Hasbro was unable to acquire the trademark to "Shrapnel") is a two-inch tall soft-plastic figurine in an adorable "super-deformed" style. He has swivels at the shoulders and neck.
- "Insecticon" was only available in a two-pack with fellow trademark-loss refugee, Rodimus.
Trivia
- Shrapnel—like the other Insecticons—was originally a Diaclone "Waruder" evil-alien-piloted mech in different colors... which were eventually used when the trio were redecoed for e-Hobby release. Specifically, Shrapnel was the Kuwagattler (or Kuwagatra) mecha. This is also the genesis of those opening chest compartments.
- In the cartoon, Shrapnel was often shown as something of a leader among the Insecticons, while Venom is the official leader in other portions of Generation 1.
- Shrapnel's Executive Officer rank would never come up again after The Bridge to Nowhere!, and he ended up as just some guy. Presumably, Budiansky (and later Furman) just forgot about it.
- Shrapnel's alt mode is devoid of wings yet he still manages to fly while transformed as an insect.
- In The Transformers: The Movie, this guy got shot by Blitzwing (thanks to Kup), knocked into a moat by Hot Rod, AND run over by Optimus Prime. THEN he proceeded to get THROWN INTO SPACE by his fellow Decepticons. Poor guy sure had an off-day.
- Shrapnel, along with Starscream, had his gender switched from male to female in the French dub of The Transformers: The Movie. It is unknown why this change was effected, but it's most likely because of the character's high-pitched voice. The change did not happen in the cartoon, as it had used a different dubbing team from the movie. The change is especially ironic, given that only male stag beetles have the large pincers of Shrapnel's alt-mode.
- Waspinator once went crazy (more so) and for a brief time, believed he was Shrapnel even speaking with his own speech pattern, pattern. This makes sense since both have insect alt-modes, both have the slag kicked out of them several times and while Waspinator, being a male wasp, should not have a stinger, Shrapnel, once being a female stag beetle, should not have had pincers. This also means Waspinator has had experiences with both characters who switched gender in the french dub of the movie, having once taken over by Starscream's ghost.
