Octopunch (G1)
- Octopunch is a Decepticon Pretender from the Generation 1 continuity family.
Not a single doubloon of sunken treasure is safe from Octopunch's slimy tentacles. A greedy scavenger, Octopunch spends most of his free time dredging the murky ocean depths for the riches that lie hidden there. (What he does with these riches is none of your business.) Unlike other robots with similar functions, Octopunch is also... well, not completely incompetent. He is a fearsome warrior above or beneath the waves, and is not afraid of a little heresy to get the job done.
- French-Canadian name: Octocoup
Fiction
Marvel Comics continuity
Generation 1
Looking to recruit a new Mayhem Attack Squad to go after the traitorous former members, Carnivac and Catilla, Snarler hired Octopunch and his comrades Bludgeon and Stranglehold for the squad. For training purposes with their fellow recruits Needlenose and Spinister, they engaged in a solid light simulated combat session set in Slaughter City, and Octopunch managed to destroy the sim versions of Grimlock AND Fortress Maximus in the first few minutes (mmmmaybe it was still set on 'Easy' mode). The Hunting Party On Earth, the Mayhems caught up with Carnivac on the outskirts of Dallas, Texas, and their fight soon carried across the border into the Mexico deserts. After Carnivac caught Needlenose flat-footed, Octopunch forced him to disengage and leave his Pretender shell by threatening some nearby humans. Infuriated at seeing a fellow Decepticon surrender simply because of some fleshlings, Octopunch prepared to deliver the death-blow to Carnivac. Survival Run However, those self-samed fleshlings came to the rescue of their savior, driving a transport truck at full-speed into the Mayhems' backside, giving Carnivac a chance to scramble clear. The resulting explosion took Octopunch out of the rest of the fight. His fellow Mayhems eventually dragged him clear when the rest of the Survivors arrived and they retreated, but not before Bludgeon managed to execute the traitor Catilla with his blade. A Savage Place!
Octopunch was part of the Mayhem Attack Squad (alongside Bludgeon and Stranglehold) sent by Thunderwing to assassinate the Autobot Pretenders Bumblebee, Grimlock, and Jazz, after their revival on Cybertron stirred the spirits of the Autobot rebellion and threatened Decepticon supremacy. After a Trans-Time Dimensional Portal accident cut short their first assassination attempt, Octopunch and the rest of the Squad followed the Autobots into the core of Cybertron. Surprisingly, Cybertron's core contained none other than Primus himself! Yesterday's Heroes!
The Mayhems made a second attempt to destroy the Autobot Pretenders, but Octopunch found out that Grimlock is much harder to kill in real life than in a simulation. After the Dinobot commander headbutted Octopunch, shattering his faceplate, the Micromasters Stakeout and Red Hot tripped him over the edge of a railing, sending him crashing to the floor below. Blacking out, Octopunch made a final attempt to fire at Grimlock, which ended up ricocheting off the Dinobot's armor-plating and striking Primus right between the eyes. Upon being shot, Primus awoke and unleashed a scream that eventually drew Unicron to the Transformers' homeworld. Primal Scream
Thanks a LOT, Octopunch.
Octopunch and the other Squad members ended up on Earth, and joined forces with Scorponok. They worked for him until the war against Unicron was successfully won, and Scorponok killed. At this point, Octopunch's comrade Bludgeon assumed command of the Decepticons, and arranged to leave the Autobots stranded on the dying planet of Cybertron while he and the Decepticons began conquering anew. They basically levelled the planet Klo before the Autobots managed to catch a ride and track them down. Wiping out nearly all the Autobots in the battle that followed, Octopunch led a squad consisting of Quake, Fangry, and Weirdwolf to pick off the stragglers. Grimlock and his surviving warriors fought back and, with the arrival of Optimus Prime and the Last Autobot, the fight turned against the Decepticons, and Bludgeon and his crew were forced to slink away. End of the Road!
Earthforce
Although their last target, Carnivac, was still at large, the Mayhem Attack Squad reasoned that he would inevitably come to them, seeking revenge for the death of his comrade, Catilla. Therefore, they set up a heavily defended island base in the Bahamas to wait out the traitor's arrival. Sure enough, Carnivac did arrive, and took out Needlenose before anyone even knew he was there. Cry Wolf! Things got more complicated after that, but while he lost his Pretender shell, Carnivac also killed Spinister and Snarler. Octopunch and his colleagues were planning to go down fighting against Carnivac's back-up, the combined Autobot Earthforce and Survivors, but instead Carnivac insisted they let them live, denied a warrior's death. Where Wolf?
Sometime later, Octopunch, Bludgeon and Stranglehold managed to escape captivity at the Earthbase. Shut Up! They hooked up with the deposed Decepticon leaders, Megatron and Shockwave, taking an assassination contract for the usurpers, Starscream and Soundwave. External Forces! Problem was, the Autobots needed Starscream alive for their own reasons, and so Grimlock sent Sludge and Swoop in to fight against the Mayhems. It was surely a brutal battle, but Octopunch and the others were defeated, their contract unfulfilled. The Lesser Evil
Marvel UK future timelines
In 1990, Octopunch was working for Megatron on Cybertron along with Bludgeon, Stranglehold, and Warmonger. After some Autobot captives temporarily escaped, Megatron determined there was a traitor in their midst, and singled out Bludgeon. When the Pretender demanded a trial by combat, Megatron set him loose to face his fellow Decepticons on the field of battle. In the fight, Bludgeon scored first blood against Octopunch, but the salvage expert caught his "once friend" off-guard by popping out of his shell with a flying punch. The punch did little against Bludgeon's armored shell, though, and he knocked Octopunch out. Bludgeon was eventually proven innocent when Warmonger caught him napping but couldn't pull the trigger, thus proving to Megatron that HE was the weak-willed Autobot in disguise. Aspects of Evil!
Another Time and Place
After the war on Klo, Octopunch and the Decepticons lay in wait for Grimlock to do something stupid, and so he did. Tracking the Dinobot commander and his troops to Hydrus Four, Octopunch and his fellows caught Grimlock off-guard and managed to take control of the medical facility where Nucleon was being produced. Bludgeon had plans to use the super-energy to bring Megatron himself back to life. Octopunch was later seen worshipping at the altar of Megatron's corpse alongside Stranglehold and Bludgeon. When the Autobots attacked, Octopunch charged into battle with his electro trident like the others, but was ultimately defeated. Another Time and Place
Generation 2
Octopunch was one of countless Decepticons under Bludgeon's command when they fought the Autobots over ownership of a cache of weapons on an unnamed barren world. The Decepticons were easily overpowering the Autobots; Octopunch, in particular, was strangling Jazz with his tentacles. Bludgeon ordered a retreat when a gigantic, monstrous creature who guarded their quarry warned them away. Ghosts
Later, Octopunch and the other Decepticons were ordered to rampage across Earth in order to get Optimus Prime's attention. Tales of Earth Part One Their "work" was interrupted when Megatron returned in a powerful new body with Starscream in tow. Megatron challenged Bludgeon for leadership of the Decepticons, and when Bludgeon lost, Octopunch and the other Decepticons switched their allegiance to the victor. Tales of Earth Part Two
Soon after, Megatron's forces clashed with Jhiaxus's Cybertronian Empire. Megatron declared war against them as Octopunch and the other Decepticons cheered him on. Their feelings changed, however, when the Warworld was attacked. Octopunch and the others fought the Cybertronians on the surface of the Warworld, but they were getting massacred. Octopunch was shot in the chest, presumably killed. New Dawn
Classics
A complete idiot and his dumb surfer friend hired Octopunch and Stranglehold as part of a new Mayhem Attack Squad. They took a hostage as bait to capture Nightbeat and Siren. When Nightbeat's crew showed up, Octopunch took one look at Slag and Sludge and promptly said that his price went up. Slag beat him up badly, and Octopunch beat himself up worse when he saw that Ruckus brought the hostage with him. Needless to say, Octopunch left saying that he will contact Ruckus about payment. Cheap Shots
How'd he get talked into being employed by Ruckus!?!
Toys
Generation 1
- Octopunch (Pretender, 1989)
- Accessories: Gun, small gun, helmet, 2 crab legs (left & right)
- Octopunch's inner robot transforms into a crab, with the help of two sets of legs that attach to his sides. His Pretender shell is a cross between a deep sea diver and a Japanese delicacy. It has four additional octopus-like tentacles extending from his shoulders, and a detachable helmet. Though, if you don't want to have nightmares, don't detach it. (There's a reason he was drawn in the comics with only his teeth visible under the helmet...) Unfortunately, Octopunch does NOT come with the wicked trident he uses in the comics. Pity.
- The shell's arms, head and helmet are all made from a softer plastic than the rest of the shell.
Notes
- The Pretender shells of Octopunch and Longtooth both possess human skull belt buckles. The significance of this shared detail, if any, has never been revealed.
- It was bad enough when Octopunch's ricocheted shot alerted Unicron to Primus's location, resulting in countless deaths and the persisting threat of the Planet Eater. It was later retconned that Octopunch's ricocheted shot not only doomed his own universe to Unicron, but every single Transformers universe in the entire multiverse as well. Better hope there's no karma in Transformers, or he's got some serious comeuppance due. Vector Prime: In the Beginning Maybe that's what the whole shot in the chest thing was for.
- At BotCon 2008, it was revealed that the Transformers Animated crew originally planned to use a human villain patterned after Octopunch (with the addition of boxing gloves on his tentacles) in the opening scenes of "Home Is Where the Spark Is". He was eventually replaced with the Angry Archer. Derrick J. Wyatt also stated in an interview that he and Matt Youngberg had been trying to make him a character for a long time.
- He only used the toy's blasters once. And it was when Ruckus employed him.
