Weapon
From Transformers Wiki
| This article is about weapons. For the issue of Sector 7, see Weapon (issue). |
A weapon is a tool or device intended to cause pain, incapacitation, injury, or death. Transformers of every sort and every allegiance use a wide variety of weapons, both in war and in occasional peacetime pursuits (such as the hunting of turbofoxes).
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Examples
Transformer weaponry may be broadly divided into melee weapons, which are hand-held or affixed to the body—such as swords, maces and axes—and used to directly attack an enemy; and ranged weapons, which can attack from afar. Partly to avoid using the crude term "gun", Transformers marketing prefers words like "launcher" (for weapons which fire missiles or other forms of projectiles) and "blaster" or "laser" (for those that fire a beam, ray, or burst of energy, perhaps with the power of your imagination).
Fiction
Some different weapons to discuss in the fiction section? *The Mini-Con weapons that are the main focus of Transformers: Armada (cartoon)? *Transformers Animated (cartoon)'s emphasis on the Autobots using different types of weapons? Optimus's axe, Bumblebee's Stinger (weapon), etc. Also should we mention the Punch of Kill Everything? *The Artifacts of the Primes weapons that have been prominent: Prima's Star Saber, Megatronus's Requiem Blaster, the Terminus Blade, and possibly the Forge of Solus Prime? *Specific live-action weapons: Void Scepter from ROTF? Sword of Judgment from AOE/TLK?
Toys
Transformers toys are equipped with a polymer arsenal of pantomime destruction, and here again there are several classes of weapons.
Weapons may be a permanently attached feature of either or both modes. Sometimes these are elements of one mode that are not otherwise used in the other except as detail and to simulate a weapon. Hot Rod's triple exhaust pipes, simulating forearm blasters, are a good example. Melee weapons may also be added this way, as when a figure's beast mode claws are left in a position accessible for combat use. Other times, they may be clearly weapons in both modes, such as Armada Megatron's main cannon.
Weapons may also remain hidden in either or both modes, and then deployed at will. This is a major feature of several subgroups of toys, including the Triggerbots and Triggercons.
Robot mode weapons are sometimes made from a part of the alternate mode that has been detached and transformed into the weapon. Dinobot's Cyber-slash tail weapon is an example.
Accessory weapons may also be given. Guns are common, as are missile launchers. Often these attach to the main figure with pegs, though some use other means.
Any of these weapons may be no more than dummies, molded to look like weapons, or they may be functional. This function usually involves launching missiles, but it may instead use electronic lights or sounds.
G1
The earliest Transformers toys were repurposed from pre-existing Japanese toylines Diaclone and Micro Change, and were typically designed to each come with a small pile of detachable launchers, rifles, missiles, and other assorted accessories with which to arm the robot mode. It was unusual for any of these parts to have anywhere to store in vehicle mode; in fact, as Diaclone toys were conceived as piloted mecha, many of them didn't even have a place to store their fists. Similarly, rare examples of vehicle mode accessories (such as Hound's spare tyre, gas canister, and turret, or the Decepticon planes' landing gear) would have nowhere to go in robot mode. Famous early examples of weapons designed to integrate into both the robot mode and disguised mode were Megatron's gun-mode scope, Soundwave's cassette-player batteries, and the Decepticon Planes' bombs.
1986's "Special Teams" took things a step further, with most of the smaller figures including a small robot-mode pistol and a large vehicle-mode cannon, and with the larger team leaders including a pile of kibble used to make the combined form. That same year, many of the original characters conceived for The Transformers: The Movie were described as having "lasers", no matter how little resemblance the guns' stated properties had to actual real-world lasers.
By 1987, Transformers toys were being designed from scratch for the line, with much less of an emphasis on realistic-looking alternate modes, and 5 mm posts had been more or less standardized. This meant weapons could generally just be piled on top of vehicle modes as extra armament. The Targetmaster gimmick introduced the idea of Transformers that would turn into weapons themselves, to be wielded by other figures.
Often, profile writer Bob Budiansky would supplement the characters' accessories with various in-built weapons based on details of the toy: for instance, Tantrum's bull-mode horns can shoot electricity.
Beast Era
Kenner's Beast Wars toyline marked a shift in the incorporation of weapons into Transformers toys. As the figures turned into realistic-looking animals, weapons were usually integrated as body parts, in fitting with the '90s gross-out leanings of the line. Perhaps the most iconic example was Cheetor's water-squirting quasar rifle, better-known as the "gut gun", as once detached it revealed sculpted detail of intestines!
The Transmetal figures later used robot-mode accessories to complete the toys' "mobility" modes—such as with Tarantulas' wheel-buzzsaw, or Optimus Primal's thruster-gun.
The often-blurred line between "weapon" and "chunk of alternate mode" continued all the way through to the reintroduction of realistic vehicle modes with Robots in Disguise. A toy missing any of its weapons would in all likelihood end up looking like half a car.
Unicron Trilogy
With the closer co-development of Transformers toys beginning with Transformers: Armada, they began to be designed such that, if a kid lost a part, they would still be left with a functional toy. A clear example of this was seen with Sideways, who developed the classic Headmaster gimmick by including not just two swappable Mini-Con heads, but a smaller head they plugged onto. Mini-Con vehicle modes were often chosen such that, when attached to a larger figure, they'd serve as some kind of weapon, in a few cases extending this as far as to incorporate dedicated third modes with this in mind. As part of the overall effort to diversify the Transformers product range, Armada also saw the introduction of child-scaled roleplay weapons, which continued to see sporadic release alongside the live-action film series.
Transformers: Energon took this idea of customizability further by using the 5 mm system to allow kids to swap and combine Energon weapons. These rarely formed an integral part of the vehicle modes, but could attach to either mode. Towards the end of its run, Energon introduced a modernised take on the classic swappable Combiner gimmick, with the individual toys' weapons able to convert into both hands and feet for the combined modes.
In Transformers: Cybertron, nearly every figure had some kind of in-built spring-loaded deployable weapon, which was activated by inserting a Cyber Key. These keys almost never had anywhere to store away on the toy, but so long as a kid had at least one, they'd be able to activate the features of all the toys they owned.
Alternators
With its focus on detailed scale models of real cars, Transformers: Alternators introduced an unprecedented level of incorporation of weapons into alternate modes: engine blocks and exhaust pipes would unfold into hand-held blasters. In some cases, car manufacturers had mixed feelings on this. Notably, Alternators was also the first line to largely avoid round peg-hole connections for weapons, instead sculpting them with realistic rectangular handgrips, giving the toys posable fingers with which to hold them—though a small peg would still be used to secure the grip against the figure's palm.
Live-action film series
The first two live-action movies generally depicted Transformer weaponry as being integrated into their bodies—a hand would not hold a gun, but instead change into a gun. Toys varied in terms of how they depicted this, but there was generally less of an emphasis on accessory play.
This changed with Transformers: Dark of the Moon, which suddenly gave everyone hand-held weaponry. The toyline tied into this through the MechTech gimmick—again using the 5 mm system—which gave each figure some kind of transforming weapon.
Beginning with Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, a separate system using 3 mm bars and C-shaped clips began to be favoured, continuing through the Hunt for the Decepticons, Reveal the Shield and Generations lines. The system formed the basis of the accessory play pattern for the Cyberverse subline of smaller figures, which ran through Dark of the Moon and Transformers: Prime.
Animated
With its greater emphasis on character play, Transformers Animated eschewed line-wide gimmicks in favour of giving every toy its own unique feature or weapon, resulting in many memorable designs, such as Prowl's traffic light and shurikens, Grimlock's flaming sword, Oil Slick's chain-barrel, and Bumblebee's stinger (which would go on to be a recurring feature for the character).
Arms Micron
The Power Core Combiners toyline smooshed together the "Targetmaster", "Mini-Con"/"Micron", and "Energon weapon" concepts, by including smaller robots cast in translucent plastic that turned not just into weapons, but also into armor for the larger combiner robots. These figures were released in Japan as "Arms Microns" named after the classic Targetmaster characters.
While the Transformers: Prime toyline generally took a similar approach to accessories as the Dark of the Moon line that preceded it, Takara's releases swapped out the standard 5 mm accessories for brand-new transforming Arms Microns—small model kits that needed to be snapped together and finished using stickers, to appeal to Japan's customizing-hobbyist demographic amongst children. These Arms Microns were themselves designed to combine using the 5 mm system into highly impractical Combo Weapons.
After Prime, these concepts returned in its sequel, the 2015 Transformers: Robots in Disguise series. The single-packed Mini-Cons each came with a sprue of clip-on clear-plastic accessories, and beginning in the line's second year, the "Weaponizer" Mini-Cons converted into 5 mm accessories for the larger toys.
Generations
As the Generations line expanded in scope, the Prime Wars Trilogy introduced an unprecedented level of cross-size-class play pattern integration. In Combiner Wars, much like Energon had done a decade prior, the Deluxe limb robots each came with a standardized hand/foot/gun accessory; in addition, the newly-designed Legends figures had weapon or armor modes to upgrade the Combiners. Titans Return introduced a new "Titan Master" size class, giving kids a cheap way to replace the larger figures' swappable heads; each single-packed Titan Master came with a transforming drone, which they could ride, combine with, or form into a weapon for the larger toys. The guns included with Deluxe, Voyager, and Leader figures usually had a seat for a Titan Master to sit in, creating turrets for the vehicle or base modes. Finally, the Power of the Primes line swapped Titan Masters for "Prime Masters", sold with "decoy armor" that could turn into weapons for the larger toys; the larger toys went back to dedicated hands and feet for the Combiners, dubbed "Prime Armor", as the Prime Masters could plug into slots on these pieces to simulate powerups.
Titans Return included updated versions of many classic Targetmaster characters, but their partners were made Titan Masters as part of the linewide swappable-head gimmick. In keeping with Takara's more collector-oriented goals, the Legends releases of these figures included bespoke Targetmaster partner figures in addition to these heads. Later, for the War for Cybertron: Siege toyline, Hasbro decided to create their own Targetmasters, now dubbed "Battle Masters" to allow for non-gun alt-modes; in something of a first for the franchise, this price point included "Fire Blast effects", translucent rubberized plastic parts which could plug onto 3 mm pegs or into 5 mm ports to simulate weapons fire. This was part of the C.O.M.B.A.T. System, whereby figures and their weapons (each lovingly given a long sci-fi name) were loaded with an unprecedented number of 5 mm ports and pegs for combination and customization. This gimmick was exemplified in the Weaponizers, Deluxe figures made entirely out of weapons, able to split apart and combine to create whatever messed-up hodgepodges you could conceive of. Later instalments in the War for Cybertron Trilogy iterated on this idea; Earthrise had its A.I.R. Lock System and Modulators with a focus on ramps/shields, while Kingdom had F.O.S.S.I.L. Technology and Fossilizers based on prehistoric skeletons.
The subsequent line, Transformers: Legacy, began with the shared gimmick of "Energon-infused weapons"—effectively identical to the gimmick from Transformers: Energon almost two decades prior—but this was quickly de-emphasised, and in the Legacy: Evolution subline imprint, was replaced with the vaguely-defined Evo-Fusion. This subline saw the return of the so-called "-izer" toys in the form of a new set of Junkions, and in Legacy: United, the Armorizers, based on "living rocks" concepts from the franchise's history.
Transformers: Age of the Primes introduced toys of all the Thirteen Primes for the very first time; Artifacts of the Primes were included with them as accessories marked with their heraldry.
Cyberverse and EarthSpark
Pitched towards younger fans, Transformers: Cyberverse initially eschewed accessory play in favour of spring-loaded "Action Attacks", which unusually featured sculpted-in effects: for instance, Starscream's Ultra toy had missile pods which could shoot out, but which remained attached by their smoke trails! In the line's second year, Power of the Spark introduced the "Spark Amor" gimmick, which packed each toy with a drone-vehicle that could be use to beef up the main figure. The year after, for the Battle for Cybertron package refresh, many figures included translucent Energon Armor, which either flipped out as the Action Attack gimmick or (for the electronic "Battle Call" figures) pegged on. Around this time, just over a dozen more-traditional Deluxe figures were released, aimed at slightly older kids and featuring more typical weapons and effect parts. Continuing in much the same vein, and even reusing Cyberverse molds, the Transformers: EarthSpark toyline had similar attack gimmicks as well as Deluxe toys with more accessories.
Rise of the Beasts
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts had a "Beast Alliance" subline which iterated on previous gimmicks; the "Beast Battle Masters" were much like the transforming weapons from Siege, while the "Beast Combiners" were similar to the larger "Spark Armor" toys from Cyberverse. Except, y'know, they turned into beasts.
