Head On!! Fortress Maximus
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 Apply directly to the forehead. | ||||||
| "Head On!! Fortress Maximus" | ||||||
| Production company | Takara, Toei | |||||
| Airdate | October 2, 1987 | |||||
| Writer | Yoshihisa Araki | |||||
| Director | Katsutoshi Sasaki | |||||
| Animation studio | Toei | |||||
| Continuity | Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity | |||||
Fortress must reveal his ultimate transformation when the Decepticons attack San Francisco with a carnivorous plant.
Synopsis
The lack of recent Decepticon activity has Chromedome and the Headmasters restless and eager to hunt the villains down. Fortress warns them to cool off, pointing out that there's no reason to go looking for trouble during such a rare moment of peace.
Such peace, of course, does not last long, as, down on Earth, an office building in San Francisco is suddenly and violently overwhelmed by a rapidly-growing alien plant that bursts through the ground beneath it. Local authorities open fire on the plant as it attempts to devour the citizenry, and Ultra Magnus scrambles the Aerialbots, Technobots and Trainbots to help. An Autobot response has been anticipated by the authors of the event, however—Bruticus and Menasor lie in wait and spring an attack on the teams as they arrive on the scene. As Ultra Magnus calls upon the Headmasters for aid, Soundblaster reports to Scorponok on Chaar that another of his plans to divert Autobot attention to Earth has succeeded. With Fortress having identified the plant as the buridanka species from the planet Darhos, the Headmasters enter the fray on Earth. As they wrestle with the plant, and clash with the Decepticon Headmasters, the vicious vegetable uproots itself, becoming mobile!
Meanwhile, on Athenia, Daniel is in the botanical gardens, tending to the seeds of a plant he brought from Earth, which have not yet sprouted. He soon discovers, however, that the Decepticons have replaced his seeds with those of the carnivorous plant, as it blooms with terrifying speed and attacks him and Wheelie. Daniel calls upon his father for help, and when Spike sees the monstrous plant, he has Arcee help him identify it via the base computers. Spike realises that the Decepticons have used Daniel to bring the plant to Athenia, just as it uproots itself and attacks the base.
As the situation worsens back on Earth, Fortress receives the report from Athenia just as Battleship Maximus becomes entwined in the still-growing plant's tendrils. As Scorponok celebrates the success of his plan for vengeance over Fortress, Fortress realises that he has no options left—he must unleash the power of the Master Sword. Reaching beneath his control console, he seizes the hilt of the weapon, only to find that it will not unsheathe, until the cries of the helpless Headmasters below ring out and he successfully draws the blade. Its energies course through Battleship Maximus, blasting the plant free, but this is only a fraction of the sword's power—to the shock of all onlookers, even Scorponok, Battleship Maximus ascends into space, and reveals itself to be a colossal Transtector by transforming into robot mode. Assuming head mode, Fortress connects to Battleship Maximus, forming the colossal Fortress Maximus! With a huge version of the Master Sword forming in his hand, Fortress Maximus makes salad out of the buridanka in seconds, causing a chain reaction that destroys the plant menacing Athenia. As the Headmasters marvel at their commander's surprising new transformation, Scorponok prepares to destroy him with his own secret weapon, and the Headmasters head back to Athenia.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Quotes
"Now watch, a men-eating flower than can dance!"
- —Weirdwolf is weird.
Notes
Animation and technical errors
- Daniel is so excited by his plant sprouting that he completely disappears for a couple of frames.
- When Battleship Maximus is smashed to the ground by the plant, Fortress is shown falling over inside his ship, and his chest Autobot insignia is missing.
- The Autobot insignia on Fortress Maximus's chest is missing its "jaw" during his transformation sequence. As this becomes stock footage for future transformations, the error repeats throughout the series.
Transformers references
- The human helicopters which attack the plant are of a rather futuristic design, one of the few times that any of the Japanese Transformers carry on the futuristic theme seen in season 3 of the original series.
- Fortress's "head mode" was previously seen in "Rebellion on Planet Beast" and "The Shadow Emperor, Scorponok". Its true purpose is revealed in this episode. Given the surprise expressed by the Autobot Headmasters, despite the fact they were aware of his big head alternate mode, they apparently never stopped to ask their leader what was up with that.
Foreign localization
English
- Title: "Fortress Maximus's Gigantic New Being!" (Omni Productions dub)
- Original airdate: ?
- Title: "Head On! Fortress Maximus" (Shout! Factory sub)
- Fortress ("Cerebros" in the subtitles) bizarrely asks "What's that?" when confronted with the Master Sword. A better translation would have been "That...?"
- Likewise, Soundblaster is apparently surprised at the existence of the carnivorous plant after it explodes. The original dialogue actually has him express surprise that it is destroyed.
- The plant's name, "buridanka", is completely omitted from the subtitles, with the vegetation only being referred to as "carnivorous plant".
Russian
- Title: "Krepysh Maximus Obretayet Novouyu Silou" (Крепыш Максимус обретает новую силу, "Fortress Maximus Becomes More Strong")
- Original airdate: ?
Italian
- Title: "La potenza segreta di Fortress Maximus" ("Fortress Maximus's secret power")
Trivia
- Why Fortress is unable to draw the Master Sword at first is not explained in this episode. The situation repeats itself in the next episode, where the answer is given—to use the sword's power, his physical and mental energies must be in complete harmony. In the next episode, a cry for help from Chromedome is what galvanizes Fortress, synchronizing his energies—presumably, then, it is the calls for help from the Headmasters in this episode that allow him to draw the sword after his first failure.
Home video releases
- Laserdisc
1996 — Transformers: The Headmasters Set (Takara) — Japanese audio only.
- DVD
2002 — Transformers: The Headmasters — DVD Box (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only.
2005 — The Takara Collection Vol 1 — Transformers: Headmasters (Metrodome)
2007 — Transformers — The Complete Takara Collection (Metrodome)
2007 — The Transformers: Headmasters (Madman Entertainment)
2009 — The Transformers: Japan Generation 1 — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment)
