Predacon (G1)
| The name or term "Predacon" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Predacon (disambiguation). |
- The Predacons are a Decepticon subgroup, and later the progenitors of the future Predacons, from the Generation 1 continuity family.
The Predacons are a subgroup of Decepticons who transform into powerful, savage animals.
The subgroup is composed of:
- The ever-patient Razorclaw (leader)
- The cheerful Divebomb
- The stubborn Headstrong
- The easily-distracted Rampage
- The wrathful Tantrum
They combine to form the deadly Predaking.
The group also may include Gnaw.
Fiction
Cartoon continuity
The Transformers cartoon
The Predacons debuted under the command of the Quintessons, having been deployed to try to retrieve Metroplex's Transformation Cog from Blurr, Wheelie, and Sky Lynx on the moon of Io. Oddly, despite being constantly touted as the most fearsome and vicious warriors in the galaxy (a commercial for their toys described them being among the few Decepticons able to go toe-to-toe with the Dinobots), the Predacons were beaten off fairly easily by this small band of Autobots, with even the terrifying Predaking unable to do anything to so much as harm their human ally Marissa Faireborn. This would prove to be the start of a trend: more than most gestalts, Predaking would rarely be the given the chance to do anything useful before being driven off in a hail of gunfire soon after combining. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 5
Inexplicably, the Predacons' allegiance to the Quintessons were never referred to again, and they were later shown serving Galvatron. The Predacons appeared in many of Galvatron's schemes in the ensuing year, ranging from oppressing the people of Paradron, Fight or Flee to mining death crystals, Chaos and even meeting the creator of Unicron. Call of the Primitives They were also among those who were infected by the Hate Plague, and, having formed Predaking, were moments from destroying the still-healthy Galvatron when they were quickly shooed away by some passing Autobots. The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 1
Transformers 2010 story pages
The Predacons were built through cooperation between the Decepticons and the Quintessons. Though they work for the Decepticons, they are commanded by the Quintessons. Part 3 and Part 4
Zone cartoon, comic and story pages
Seeking to create a Decepticon Zone to counter the Autobot Zone, Decepticon Emperor Violen Jiger gathered together the Nine Great Demon Generals, upgrading them with powerful new armor and weaponry, then sent them forth to conquer planets. The Predacons were among the selected, but only in the form of Predaking. Zone Part 1 Zone Enter the New Supreme Commander, Dai Atlas!
Marvel Comics continuity
Summoned to Earth by Megatron to help him hunt down and destroy an isolated and vulnerable Optimus Prime, the Predacons travelled across the space bridge and (after showing off their skills by doing some target shooting on Motormaster) were quickly approved of by their new employer. Before leaving on their mission, however, they were approached by Shockwave, who convinced them to turn on Megatron and destroy him instead. Their attempt at treachery would result in both Megatron and Optimus being transported to Cybertron and believed dead by their respective teams for some time. Prey!
Shockwave, who was seeking to rid himself of an addled and insane Megatron (driven mad by the recent death of Optimus Prime), contacted the Predacons and hired them to ambush and kill the Decepticon leader. (It was explained to the Predacons, who were understandably concerned about having to deal with Megatron yet again, that their target had recently lost his memory, and thus would not recall meeting them before, or their subsequent betrayal of him.) The Predacons eagerly agreed to the mission, seeing it as a possible challenge for their skills, and disguised themselves as Autobots in order to convince Megatron that Optimus Prime was not only still alive, but had been the one who sent them. Gone but Not Forgotten!
Deciding to stay on Earth, the Predacons quickly grew bored with the lack of any real sport there. Their previous encounters with Optimus and Megatron had been so exciting that they had expected to find the planet a little more challenging. While rampaging randomly across the country, they soon encountered the Dinobots, and found them to be worthy opponents. Both teams were closely matched in terms of power, and were strongly devoted to "looking after their own". Furthermore, it was revealed that Divebomb and Swoop were actually old enemies from their days back on Cybertron. As the battle ended, the Predacons looked forward to causing their new rivals no end of trouble in the future. Grudge Match!
New Decepticon leader Ratbat dispatched the Predacons to raid a chemical storage facility outside of Huntsville, Alabama for rocket fuel. Having succeeded, they joined Ratbat for an assault on I.I.I.'s Oregon headquarters, in order to examine the corpses of the Throttlebots, whom Triple-I had recently executed. After making short work of the RAAT forces guarding the base, they located the crushed Autobot bodies, only to find that their brain modules had been removed. Ratbat and the Predacons tracked the brains (which had been transplanted into toy cars) to Witwicky Auto Repair, which they destroyed, and then to a local mall, where they were out manoeuvered and defeated by the "toy soldiers" and their human allies, Buster Witwicky and Walter Barnett. Toy Soldiers!
Under Ratbat's command, the Predacons participated in the full-scale attack against the Autobots on the moon, Totaled! as well as two major battles in the Arctic, facing both Scorponok's Decepticons and later the Autobots who had been lured there in a trap. Shortly after, the Predacons were part of the combined Autobot-Decepticon team to stop the Underbase-fueled Starscream from destroying Tokyo, but were easily destroyed by him. Dark Star
Earthforce
Razorclaw and Rampage were on a reconnaissance mission for Shockwave when they found Grimlock, right at the moment he found out he had been the victim of an April Fools' Day joke. They laughed. That was stupid of them. Snow Fun! Grimlock's warning that there were Predacons in the area fresh in his head, Skydive assumed that they were responsible for the disappearance of Wheeljack. Mystery!
When Megatron and Shockwave attempted to reunite their disparate forces, the Predacons attended the Enclave. It didn't end harmoniously thanks to the intervention of the Earthforce. The Bad Guy's Ball! Later, they attacked the Earthbase under Soundwave's command, but were driven off. Divide and Conquer!
Dreamwave comics continuity
Eons ago, the Predacons were Decepticon warlords who had been banished from Cybertron to the planet Beest. While on the planet, the Predacons' higher functions degraded, causing them to become feral. Megatron tracked down the exiled Predacons on Beest and, with the aid of three members of the Aerospace Extermination Squadron, subdued and rebuilt them, allowing them to combine into the fearsome Predaking. Welcome to the Jungle
Their first target was Shockwave's base on Cybertronian Wastelands, where the Predacons drew out and attacked Astrotrain and Blitzwing, killing the latter. Before Shockwave could properly react to this turn of events the Predacons had taken over the base and subdued the rest of his troops. Lost and Found
Later, Megatron returned to Earth, and entered the Nemesis to punish Starscream for shooting him in the void of space. War and Peace The Predacons were sent to fight Starscream's elite squad, the Combaticons, while the latter were training on the island of Guadalcanal. Predaking's firepower forced the Combaticons to combine into Bruticus, and the warriors significantly damaged each other. However, while Bruticus was strong and determined, Predaking had superior intelligence compared to the slow-witted Combaticon combiner, and he savagely defeated Bruticus, putting him in stasis lock. The Route of All Evil
G.I. Joe vs the Transformers
Divebomb was among Shockwave's troops as they waited patiently for Ultra Magnus's force field around Teletran 3 to dissipate. G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers II #2
Following the defeat of Shockwave, the Predacons were forced to live in the Gladiator Zone, where they created their own territory and were none too pleased with Nautilator intruding on it. When the Seacon joined with his comrades to form Piranacon, the Predacons formed Predaking and fought him. Predaking came out on top, but before he could finish the Seacons off, he was stopped by Serpent O.R., who told both subgroups that he was the offspring of Megatron. The Art of War #2
Joining Serpent O.R.'s new Decepticon army, the Predacons helped capture a group of Autobots and G.I. Joes and argued with the Terrorcons during a meeting. As Predaking, they later attacked an Autobot peace ceremony and took out Omega Supreme. The Art of War #3 He spent the rest of the battle hunting down innocent civilians before returning to the Decepticon headquarters, where Divebomb and Rampage failed to notice that their former prisoners were sneaking up on them. Meanwhile, Tantrum and Headstrong were among the Decepticons preparing to defend their base from a major Autobot/G.I. Joe assault. The Art of War #4 Alongside several other subgroup leaders, Razorclaw protected Serpent O.R. from a furious Optimus Prime, but was killed when Cobra Commander took control of Serpent O.R.'s body. The Art of War #5
Dawn of Future's Past
After the end of the Great War the remaining Predacons formed the new Predacon faction. Divebomb is known to have recruited several ex-Decepticons for the faction. As usual, they swore revenge against the Maximals. Dawn of Future's Past
IDW comics continuity
The Predacons are a Tactical Assault Unit loyal to Megatron. Shockwave prepared himself for a possible Predacon attack while enacting the Regenesis project, and was caught off-guard when he was instead attacked by the Dynobots. Spotlight: Shockwave
After the Battle of Thunderhead Pass, Razorclaw was involved in a Decepticon scheme to demoralize the Autobots and claim as much of their territory on the planet as possible. Soundwave used Bombshell to subvert the will of Beachcomber, forcing the Autobot to make an assassination attempt on Blaster, "The Voice" of the Autobot cause. And so, just as the Autobot forces were gathering around their transmitters, waiting for the pre-scheduled broadcast that would never come, Razorclaw caught them off-guard with a massive full-frontal assault on the enemy trenches. Besides his Predacons, he led Darkwing, Dreadwind, Needlenose, Spinister, and even the mighty Trypticon himself into battle. Although details are slim, this offensive was apparently a major blow to the Autobot cause. Spotlight: Blaster
At one point on Cybertron, the Predacons hunted down and killed two squads of Autobots, leaving Tracks and Jazz the only survivors. Between the two, they managed to defeat four out of the five Predacons, but Razorclaw got the better of Jazz in a one-on-one battle and was about to execute him when Autobot reinforcements arrived and forced him to back off. Spotlight: Jazz
After Thunderwing's reactivation and subsequent return to Cybertron, the Predacons were dispatched to ensure that his defeat was final this time, with Megatron giving Razorclaw explicit instructions: if Cybertron must die, then so be it. Razorclaw started a countdown on an orbital bombardment powerful enough to destroy Cybertron, but stood at the console with his finger on the button, ready to cancel it in the event that Thunderwing was defeated. He remarked that he was hesitant to destroy Cybertron unless it was absolutely necessary, but was willing to do it if it was. During the Autobots' battle with Thunderwing, Razorclaw sent two assault teams under Divebomb and Headstrong to assist the Autobots, but ordered them to retreat when Thunderwing revealed his "ultra-mode". Razorclaw cancelled the countdown with one second remaining after Optimus Prime defeated Thunderwing. Stormbringer #4
Several years later, hundreds of Decepticons gathered on a desolate planetoid somewhere. Razorclaw oversaw them, rather enjoying it when they turned to cannibalism. All His Engines The other four Predacons ended up on Earth, where they formed an alliance with the Chinese government to defend their nation in exchange for energon. International Incident Part 3: "Hawk Among the Sparrows"
Led by Rampage, they clashed with the Autobots (allied with Skywatch) and Combaticons (allied with North Korea), but ultimately the Chinese energon factories were destroyed, and the Predacons saw no need to stick around any further. International Incident Part 4: "All My Sins Remembered" As for Razorclaw, he attacked Hot Rod when the latter invaded the Decepticon base. He pounced on the intruder, who fought back by stuffing one of Bombshell's cerebro-shells down his throat. This had the unexpected effect of putting Razorclaw under Hot Rod's control, which the Autobot used to his advantage by ordering the Predacon to attack Starscream. While he followed orders, Razorclaw's resistance against the mind control made him sluggish, and Starscream easily dispatched him. Heart Like a Wheel
Toys
Generation 1
- Predacons (1986)
- The Predacons were sold boxed in 1986 and 1987. They are by far the largest combining team, as all five members are the same comparatively large size. They share a unified color scheme of red, orange, yellow, gray and black. Each transforms from a robot armed with a sword and handgun to a chunky mechanical animal; the five toys combine together to form Predaking. Some of Predaking's add-on kibble is used by his individual components as weaponry.
Japan only
- Gnaw (Decepticon, 1986)
- Gnaw was an Animatron in the Japanese toyline.
Titaniums
- Predaking (3" Robot Masters, 2006)
Universe (2008)
- Special Team Leaders (2008)
- Razorclaw
- A redeco of Legends-class Leobreaker.
BotCon 2009
- Razorclaw (2009)
- A retool of Voyager-class Leobreaker.
Notes
- The Predacons appear to be based on the Anibots, a group of five Autobots who appeared in an early version of the script for the 1986 movie. These Anibots had the same animal modes as the Predacons (with the minor difference of a leopard instead of a tiger), and would also have combined into a larger robot.
- According to the 1986 vendor catalog, the gold plastic swords were originally intended to be gold chromed.
- In Japanese media, Gnaw is labeled an Animatron.
Foreign names
- Japanese: Animatron (アニマトロン Animatoron)
- Russian: Vredikon (Вредикон, "Hurtcon")
