Nebulon (Headmasters)
| The name or term "Nightstick" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Nightstick (disambiguation). |
- Nightstick is an Autobot Targetmaster from the Generation 1 continuity family.
While still living on the planet Master, Nightstick was an engineer. He volunteered to undergo a unique form of binary-bonding in order to save the wounded Autobot Ricochet. Unlike other Targetmasters, where the small partner is held in the larger partner's hand, Nightstick plugs into Ricochet's robot-mode back. Thus he interfaces with Ricochet's metabolism, serving as a life-support system.
While in flame cannon mode, Nightstick utilizes the energy gathered by Ricochet's black-body technology to fire blasts of up to 5000°C. This can cause backdraft problems at high speeds, but Ricochet has other weapons he can rely upon (which is another unorthodox element of their Targetmastery).[1]
Curiously, Nightstick looks identical to another Nightstick, the Decepticon Cyclonus's Targetmaster partner. And, to make matters worse, Ricochet hangs around with Artfire, whose Targetmaster partner is ALSO named Nightstick. Believe it or not, it could be worse.
Fiction
The Headmasters manga
On Earth, the Decepticon Targetmasters Slugslinger, Misfire and Triggerhappy, set a blazing inferno. Chromedome and Daniel were having trouble controlling the fire when Ricochet and Artfire, accompanied by their partners Nightstick and Nightstick (not to be confused with Nightstick), showed up to help. The blaze was quickly quenched, and the Autobots then sent the Decepticons into a retreat.
Toys
Generation 1
- Stepper (Targetmaster, 1987)
- Japanese ID number: C-109
- Nightstick (called "Nebulon") was included with Ricochet (called "Stepper"). Nebulon isn't even a repaint of the Decepticon Nightstick; they're the same toy. He transforms into a single-barrelled, non-firing hand-cannon that can peg into Stepper's car-mode spoiler or attach to a separate bracket mounted over his robot-mode shoulder. At the time, the pair was exclusive to Japan.
- The other Japanese-exclusive Targetmaster, Artfire, came with a partner identical to Scourge's. It seems there was an attempt to carry over the lookalike partners' names, as one was called "Nightstick," and the other was called "Nebulon" (which is how Scourge's on-package bio referred to his partner). But those names were switched: the Nightstick-lookalike was called "Nebulon" and vice-versa. Thus did yet another "Nightstick" enter the world, as Artfire's partner.
- Ricochet w/ Nightstick (Targetmaster, 2003)
- Japanese ID number: TFC-15
- For the 2003 reissue of Ricochet/Stepper both stateside and in Japan, Nightstick/Nebulon was retooled with a slender peg extension to allow Ricochet to actually hold him in his hand.
