Transformers: Generation 1
| Piranacon | |
|---|---|
| Transformers character | |
 Piranacon in Marvel Comics | |
| Voiced by | Masato Hirano |
| Information | |
| Affiliation | Decepticon |
| Japanese name | King Poseidon |
| Sub-group | Seacons, Targetmasters |
| Alternate modes | 6 Decepticon robot sea creatures |
The Seacons are a team of Decepticons named for their sea-animal alternate modes. The team is able to merge their bodies and minds to form the gigantic Piranacon. [1]
The team members are:
- Snaptrap(spelled "Snap Trap" in comics, and known as Turtler in Japan) is the team leader. He rules the other Seacons through fear of force rather than any sort of inspirational leadership qualities. He is, however, very good at what he does - brutally and efficiently taking apart Autobots. He transforms into a Common snapping turtle.
- Nautilator(Lobclaw in Japan) is possessed of a rather unfortunate weakness - for supposedly an underwater specialist, he's no good at underwater operations whatsoever. Because of this when formed as Piranacon, the other Seacons let him form Piranacon's weapon rather than threatening them in combined mode. He transforms into a lobster.
- Overbite (same name in Japan)(called Jawbreaker in the comics by Marvel UK for reasons unknown, as the toy was sold in Europe as "Overbite" nonetheless) is interested in only one thing - hunting prey, be it Autobot or luckless human ships that happen to get in his way. He transforms into a shark with extra limbs to help function on land.
- Seawing(Kraken in Japan) Is the team's stealth specialist, gliding silently through the water and attacking without warning. He also has designs on being the leader of the group. He transforms into a manta ray with legs.
- Skalor(Gulf in Japan) is disgusting even by Seacon standards, always leaking oil, lubricants and various other fluids is so disgusting that even the other Seacons try to avoid him. Constantly seeping lubricant and other fluids, Skalor doesn't seem that bothered about getting it fixed - even when it causes him to seize up in battle. His motto - "I stink, therefore I am" - is an obvious reference to René Descartes's famous philosophical statement. He transforms into a Coelacanth with arms and legs.
- Tentakil(same name in Japan) is the cruelest of all the Seacons. He'll lure opponents to their doom by complimenting them on their battle prowess, letting them think he is an honorable foe - then he'll strike and take them apart. He enjoys tricking them more than actually destroying them. [2] He transforms into a squid-like monster with two lower leg-like tentacles. Tentakil was named the 28th top unfortunately named Transformer by Topless Robot. [3]
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies off the eastern coast of the Asian continent and stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and the Philippine Sea in the south.
The common snapping turtle is a large freshwater turtle of the family Chelydridae. Its natural range extends from southeastern Canada, southwest to the edge of the Rocky Mountains, as far east as Nova Scotia and Florida. The three species of Chelydra and the larger alligator snapping turtles are the only extant chelydrids, a family now restricted to the Americas. The common snapping turtle, as its name implies, is the most widespread.
Lobsters are a family of large marine crustaceans.
Although the Seacons' personalities are wildly disparate, their combined mode of Piranacon is a successful combination of their minds. But as all the Seacons love hunting their prey Piranacon (known in Japan as King Poseidon) is likewise solely dedicated to it without the personality conflicts that paralyse other combiners, and will hunt his prey unceasingly if need be.
The group is notable for possessing an extra ability not present in the other combiners – each "limb" can also transform into a weapons emplacement, which can be wielded as a gun by Piranacon (hence the need for a sixth member in the team). Because of this ability, the toys were sold under the Targetmaster banner when they were released in 1988. When later packaged together as a giftset, however, Nautilator was not included (note that he is not depicted as part of Piranacon in the character's box art), making him the rarest and most sought after of the group among collectors. In a nod to this, when Dreamwave Productions profiled the Seacons, it was mentioned that Overbite, who normally becomes Piranacon's gun (given the role by the toy's instructions), often has to stand in for Nautilator as a limb because of his incompetence.
Targetmaster is a subline of the Transformers toyline that include Nebulan sidekicks who can transform into the Transformers' weapons.
Dreamwave Productions was a Canadian art design studio and comic book publisher founded in 1996 which is best known for their multiple Transformers comic book series. The company shut down on January 4, 2005.
The composition of Piranacon's limbs differs from depiction to depiction. Seawing and Tentakil are the constants, always forming the left arm and lower leg, respectively. Piranacon's box art and Dreamwave Productions profile show Overbite as the right arm and Skalor as the right lower leg, while his instructions show Skalor as the right arm and Nautilator as the right lower leg. His depiction in Marvel comic books and in Japan's Transformers: Super God Masterforce, on the other hand, has Nautilator as the right arm, and Skalor as the right leg.
Marvel Comics
With the U.S. Transformers animated series having come to a close the previous year, it fell to the comic book series from Marvel Comics to provide supporting fiction roles for the Seacons. However, their comic book debut came not in the pages of the U.S. title, but in its sister across the Atlantic, the U.K.'s official Transformers comic, which interspliced its own stories with the U.S. material.
The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States or America, is a country comprising 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe. With a population of over 327 million people, the U.S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the most populous city is New York City. Most of the country is located contiguously in North America between Canada and Mexico.
There have been three main publishers of the comic book series bearing the name Transformers based on the toy lines of the same name. The first series was produced by Marvel Comics from 1984 to 1991, which ran for 80 issues and produced four spin-off miniseries. This was followed by a second volume titled Transformers: Generation 2, which ran for 12 issues starting in 1993. The second major series was produced by Dreamwave Productions from 2002 to 2004 with multiple limited series as well, and within multiple story continuities, until the company became bankrupt in 2005. The third series is currently being produced by IDW Publishing starting with an issue #0 in October 2005 and a regular series starting in January 2006. There are also several limited series being produced by IDW as well. In addition to these three main publishers, there have also been several other smaller publishers with varying degrees of success.
Marvel Comics is the brand name and primary imprint of Marvel Worldwide Inc., formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, a publisher of American comic books and related media. In 2009, The Walt Disney Company acquired Marvel Entertainment, Marvel Worldwide's parent company.
The Seacons were brought to Earth by Shockwave to put their undersea adeptness to use fortifying the Decepticons’ sub-aquatic island headquarters. Outfitted with Earth modes by Shockwave, the Seacons were going about their task when they met with their first challenge, which also proved to be one of their greatest – they were ordered to defend the island against the insane, time-travelling future Decepticon, Galvatron. The Seacons gave a good account of themselves, merging into Piranacon (misspelled "Pirranacon" in the story) for extra power, but ultimately, the team was defeated by their stronger adversary, only for Galvatron to reveal that he had not planned an attack at all, merely wishing to talk. Now, however, he claimed that Shockwave had made an enemy of him – although it was all part of a plan to destabilise his leadership. Seeking a weapon that could truly combat Galvatron, Shockwave sought out the former Decepticon leader, Megatron, who had been missing in action for some time. When what was believed to be his body (but was, in actuality, a clone of him) was located in the Thames river by entrepreneur Richard Branson, Overbite (called Jawbreaker in his UK appearances) was dispatched with some of the Decepticon jets to bring the body to Shockwave. Snaptrap subsequently repaired the clone’s physical damage, and aided Shockwave in using the psycho-probe to brainwash it into his service.
Shockwave is the name of several fictional characters in the Transformers robot superhero franchise. Throughout his incarnations, he is usually distinguished by a laser cannon instead of one of his hands and his distinctive face, which is featureless save for a single robotic eye. He is also commonly portrayed as a cold, emotionless Decepticon that serves as Megatron's "mad scientist". Due to issues with Hasbro's trademark of the name Shockwave, some products were also released under the name Shockblast or "Shockblast the Great".
Galvatron is a name adopted by several fictional characters in the Transformers robot superhero franchise. He is usually the recreated form of Megatron, the Decepticon leader; however, it has been used for separate and unrelated characters, most notably the main villain of the anime series Beast Wars II, and the character from the more recent IDW Publishing G1 series.
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is a British business magnate, investor, author and philanthropist. He founded the Virgin Group in the 1970s, which controls more than 400 companies in various fields.
Following this, the Seacons made their U.S. title debut, having departed from Shockwave's service and now under the command of Ratbat, the leader of the primary Earth-based Decepticon force. Ratbat had relocated the Decepticons' island base to the Florida Keys, disguising it as a holiday resort named "Club Con" to allow the Seacons to search the seabed for a sunken pirate ship, the treasure chest of which contained two Autobot tapes, Grandslam and Raindance. The recovery mission was successful, but the tapes were then stolen by the Autobot Blaster, and the holidaymakers on the island had their peace and quiet rudely interrupted as the Seacons erupted from the ocean and attacked, searching for Blaster. In the ensuing battle, Blaster sent the tapes back to the depths of the oceans, encouraging the Seacons to call off the attack and head after them. [4]
The tapes, it was revealed, were sent to Earth centuries ago to warn the Autobots there of the approaching threat posed by the Underbase, a massive space-born information storehouse that could convey infinite power. However, first Ratbat's forces had to deal with a rival group of Decepticons under Scorponok, who had been called to Earth by Starscream, and the Seacons' combined mode of Piranacon was put to use in an attempt to destroy his ship. Conflict soon broke out between the two groups. Unfortunately the whole thing had been a ruse by Starscream, who managed to attain the Underbase's power, turning on Autobot and Decepticon alike and attempting to conquer Earth. The Seacons joined in the attempted defence of New York, striking at Starscream from the East River, but were all deactivated by the cosmically-powered villain.
The Seacons did not appear again after this, but in the U.K. title, Megatron briefly sent his consciousness back in time to the Underbase affair and possessed Snaptrap, hoping to spare the Seacons their fate in the past so they could survive to bolster his forces in the present. His scheme was stopped by Prowl.
Animated series
Although the Seacons were released too late in the toyline to make an appearance in the US Transformers animated series, their Japanese counterparts made it to the small screen in 1988's Japanese-exclusive series, Transformers: Super-God Masterforce . Here, the Seacons were notably different from their American selves – rather than each one of them being unique, entire legions of drones of the five smaller team members existed, lacking the power of speech or any true intelligent thought. Never transforming into robot mode (possibly not even possessing the ability), they operated under the command of various other Decepticons, acting as ground troops and cannon fodder during their numerous attacks on the Pretenders. In contrast, the Seacon leader, Turtler was indeed intelligent and capable of speech, but he too never transformed to robot mode. By combining with one of each of the Seacon drones, Turtler became King Poseidon, who was first dispatched to battle Ginrai. He almost killed Ginrai during their first battle, but Ginrai became Super Ginrai and defeated him easily. King Poseidon later participated in many pivotal battles. Of particular note was the assault upon the Autobots' base, during which they abandoned the Decepticon double agent Clouder to die in the conflagration, encouraging him to switch sides when the Autobots saved him.
Although intended to be a complete direct-to-video series, 1990's Japanese-exclusive Transformers: Zone series was cancelled after only one episode, but that was still enough time for Piranacon/King Poseidon to put in a return appearance. Under the service of the mysterious insectoid being known as Violenjiger, he was one of the nine great Decepticon Generals the villain had recruited, alongside Devastator, Menasor, Bruticus, Predaking, Abominus, Trypticon, Overlord and Black Zarak. Sadly for the Seacons, they were unceremoniously killed alongside Trypticon by the new Cybertron (Autobot) commander Dai Atlas with a single shot. [5]
Books
Tentakil was among the Decepticons featured in the 1988 book and audio adventure Autobot Hostage by Ladybird Books. [6] [7]
Devil's Due Publishing
The Seacons would return in the third Devil's Due crossover between G.I. Joe and the Transformers. Without Megatron or Shockwave's steadying influence the Decepticons had fallen apart in a series of internecine conflicts. One such was the Seacons taking on the Predacons. The Predacons seemingly had the upper hand, forcing Nautilator to flee into the water. The Seacons emerged as Piranacon and battled Predaking, until interrupted by a strange, tiny figure: Serpentor, a human military cyborg built with Megatron's memories. Using these memories to convince both combiners to join him, they then participate (along with the Stunticons) in the ambush that kills Bumblebee. They were then Serpentor's principal weapon, along with Predaking and Menasor, in the attack on Capital City, where the three of them defeated Omega Supreme. Several Predacons would die in the attack. Unfortunately Piranacon wouldn't have time to enjoy his victory, as he was deactivated by an out-of-control Sixshot smashing into his face. The Seacons would survive, but Nautilator was killed when the G.I. Joe ninja Snake Eyes uses his mental powers to convince the Stunticon Breakdown to shoot him.
Fun Publications
The Seacons appear in At Fight's End by Fun Publications. Under Megatron's orders the Seacons pretend to be loyal to Bludgeon and then frame the Terrorcons for betraying Bludgeon. Once Bludgeon is distracted the Seacons form Piranacon and attack Bludgeon himself, finishing off Bludgeon with Tentakil's Mass-Compression Cannon weapon mode. [8]
Toys
- Generation 1 Piranacon (1988)
- Sold individually or as a gift set. [9]
- A third party upgrade for this toy by CrazyDevy called "CDMW-16 Sea Brigade Power Parts with Light up Eyes" was made with a new head containing light-up eyes. [10]
- Timelines Piranacon (2008)
- A redeco of Generation 1 Piranacon, this toy was a Transformers Collectors Club exclusive.
- Transformers Generation 1 Commemorative Decepticon Piranacon (2010)
- A BigBadToyStore.com exclusive reissue of the original Piranacon figure. [11] Comes with five display stands to display each Seacon in any mode, as well as six collector cards featuring bios of each Seacon and Piranacon. [12]
