Malevolent and Inhuman! The True Form of Devil Z
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 Well, of course he's "malevolent and inhuman," he's a giant freakin' evil alien robot! | ||||||
| "Malevolent and Inhuman! The True Form of Devil Z" (Goku Aku Hidō! Devil Z no Shōtai) | ||||||
| Production company | Takara, Toei | |||||
| Airdate | 21 February 1989 | |||||
| Writer | Toyohiro Ando | |||||
| Director | Katsutoshi Sasaki | |||||
| Animation studio | Toei | |||||
| Continuity | Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity | |||||
The Autobots track the Decepticons to the Matterhorn, and the final battle between the two factions begins.
- Omni Productions dub title: "The True Face of Z, the Ultimate Killer"
- Also known as: "The True Form of Devil Z"
- Latin-American dub title: "El Gran Jefe" ("The Great Boss")
Synopsis
From the top of the Matterhorn in the Alps, BlackZarak bombards Europe with his Devil Power, and the Autobots immediately mobilize to track down the villains. Even their allies—Cancer, Clouder, Wilder and Bullhorn, robbed of their Transtectors by Devil Z—have joined in the effort, helping to rescue people in the disaster areas despite great risk to their de-powered selves. In an underground shelter, the four youths and the dozens of survivors cluster, debating the likelihood of their survival.
Meanwhile, the Autobots head into the snowy peaks of the Alps and divide into groups to attack BlackZarak and the Decepticons from three directions. Lightfoot, Ranger and Road King are immediately spotted by the Decepticon Pretenders, who report to the other Decepticons. Overlord is about to move out and attack them, but BlackZarak holds him back and instead deals with the Godmasters from afar by burying them under an avalanche caused by his Devil Power.
Things do not go much better for Metalhawk and the Headmaster Juniors, who are immediately confronted by King Poseidon. Minerva is nearly cleaved by the Seacon combiner's blade, but Metalhawk swoops into save her, taking a blast from King Poseidon's cannons in the process. The group tries concentrating their fire on the giant, but King Poseidon retaliates with a barrage of missiles that hurls his opponents around like rag dolls. King Poseidon looms over the fallen Metalhawk and swings his sword at the Pretender, but Metalhawk blocks it with his own, and a protracted battle of strength between the two begins...
Meanwhile, Ginrai and Grand Maximus have arrived to help dig the Godmasters out, but once the task is accomplished, the group spots the pyrotechnics from the battle with King Poseidon off in the distance. Ginrai immediately takes to the air to aid Metalhawk and the Juniors, but Hydra and Buster, merged as Darkwings, stand in his way. The brothers swear to show Ginrai their true power at last, and with a cry of "Mach X Flight!", they suddenly vanish! The startled Ginrai looks around for any sign of his opponents, and is then suddenly rammed by the giant jet when it reappears behind him. Ginrai realizes that they did not truly teleport, but flew so fast that the naked eye could not follow them, and charges his body with Chōkon Power to mimic the effect for himself. Entering "Chōkon Mach Flight," Ginrai zooms towards the stunned brothers, who immediately turn tail. Once again, though, Ginrai proves to be their better, overtaking them and searing their bodies with the burning backwash of his Chōkon Power. Scarred and smoking, they fall out of the sky and crash explosively into a mountain. His way now clear, Ginrai races to the rescue of Metalhawk and blasts King Poseidon into his component parts with a God Punch. The Seacons quickly recombine, but Ginrai easily blows them into fragments with a Chōkon-powered shot from the God Cannon. Although their foe has been defeated, Metalhawk and the Juniors are badly wounded and remain behind, protected by Grand Maximus, while Ginrai and the Godmasters carry on scaling the mountain. Just before reaching the peak, Ginrai instructs the Godmasters to hold back while he makes the first strike on his own.
Up on the top of the mountain, an enraged BlackZarak punishes Hydra and Buster for their failure, repeatedly striking them with his spear. The punishment goes on for some time, until Overlord finally speaks up and stays his emperor's hand, saying that they have suffered enough. BlackZarak scoffs and hurls Overlord aside, then begins blasting the Godmaster brothers with eye-beams until they pass out from pain. Overlord rushes to their side and decries BlackZarak's actions as barbaric, but BlackZarak simply laughs in his face and says he considers Overlord to be nothing more than an insect as well. Furious, Overlord attempts to strike BlackZarak, and a brief battle between the two breaks out, brought to an end when BlackZarak impales Overlord with his spear. Terrified, Blood, Gilmer and Dauros make themselves scarce, and BlackZarak continues to torture Overlord by channeling energy through his spear...until a blast from the God Cannon knocks the weapon out of his hand! God Ginrai descends out of the sky and gets between the two Decepticons, with a stunned Overlord inquiring why he would do this for an enemy. Ginrai's answer is simple: It is because Overlord is human. BlackZarak pulls out all the stops, and the sky turns red as he unleashes his Devil Power, sending bolts of lightning lancing down around Ginrai as the Autobot attempts to help Overlord to safety. Suddenly, a volley of missiles bursts out of the ground beneath BlackZarak's feet, and he drops to his knees, his concentration broken. Sixknight has arrived to tip the scales and comes churning out of the Earth in his drill tank mode! He challenges BlackZarak to a battle and tells Ginrai to assemble the Autobots as he holds back the Decepticon leader. Quietly, Sixknight says that he is glad to have fought God Ginrai, then presses his attack...before BlackZarak bombards his body with Devil Power and causes him to explode, killing him. Ginrai returns with the Autobots just in time to witness Sixknight's death, and the stage is now set for the one, true final battle...
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans |
|---|---|---|
Human Autobots |
Human Decepticons
|
Quotes
"Well, I'm an expert mountaineer."
"I know you are! Let's carry on!"
- —Ranger and Road King, scaling the Matterhorn.
"I don't need idiots like you! I can conquer the Earth by myself!"
- —BlackZarak
"Okay, go to Hell now, Overlord. OW! Aw darn, who was that?"
- —God Ginrai interrupts BlackZarak.
"Let me tell you, Z, you can't win no matter what! You're an evil monster, and evil will not prevail!"
- —God Ginrai
Notes
Lost in translation
Among the changes made by the Omni Productions dub:
- During the opening dialog, the announcer makes the cryptic statement that something strange is happening to BlackZarak.
- Wilder's cries of "God damn it!" are toned down to him shouting "WHY?!" at the top of his lungs.
- The Matterhorn is renamed "Mandoa".
- Rather than being sure that the other Godmasters are buried under the rockslide he finds, God Ginrai lands and wonder out loud if they're buried under there.
- Most of King Poseidon's dialogue is gone, replaced by menacing noises.
- Hawk tells Minerva to run, rather than hold on. Which just makes it confusing when a few seconds later she grabs on to Hawk.
- "Mach X Flight" becomes "Invisible Wings".
- Sixknight's statement that it was good to have faced Ginrai is replaced by him taunting BlackZarak.
Animation or technical errors
- Right after Overlord grabs BlackZarak's arm to stop him hitting the brothers, Hydra disappears.
- In the Omni Productions dub, MegaZarak's last line of "Those against me d-" is oddly cut off.
Continuity errors
- Where have Cancer, Clouder, Wilder and Bullhorn's Transtectors gone? They were brought to life in the previous episode, and they're nowhere to be found in this one.
Continuity notes
- The Decepticons headed for Europe in the previous episode.
- Sixknight reappears after another of his long absences. He was last seen in "Destroy Godbomber!!".
- Having doubted Devil Z since "Crisis! The Day of Human Extinction", Overlord at last stands up to his commander in this episode.
Trivia
- This is the last episode to feture Sixknight
Miscellaneous trivia
- Now, you didn't really think that "The True Form of Devil Z" would actually show you the true form of Devil Z, did you? You big silly, you!
Home video releases
- DVD
2003 — Transformers: Super-God Masterforce — DVD Box 02 (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only.
2006 — The Takara Collection Vol 2 — Transformers: Super-God Masterforce (Metrodome)
2007 — Transformers — The Complete Takara Collection (Metrodome)
2008 — The Transformers: Super God Masterforce (Madman Entertainment) — Optional Omni dub.
2009 — The Transformers: Japan Generation 1 — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment) — Optional Omni dub.
