Menasor

Menasor is the name to several fictional characters in the Transformers series. The original Menasor was the combined form of the Stunticons. Since then, other characters have taken the name Menasor.

Transformers: Generation 1

Menasor
Decepticon
Information
Sub-group Stunticons, Gestalts
Function Super Warrior
Rank 5
Motto "Leave no Autobot uncrushed."
Alternate modes 5 Decepticons, Futuristic recreational vehicle, Cab over engine semi truck
Series Transformers: Generation 1
Transformers: Classics
Transformers: Titanium
Transformers: Universe
English voice actor Roger C. Carmel (1st voice)
Regis Cordic (2nd voice)
James Arnold Taylor (Transformers: Devastation)
Japanese voice actor Kōji Totani

Menasor (Pentacar or Ultrax in Italy) is the combined form of the group of five Decepticons known as the Stunticons. He is immensely powerful, capable of delivering a punch with the force of 140 tons. He uses Motormaster's cyclone gun to blow through Autobot barriers and carries a silver ionizer sword with a charge of 50,000 volts. However, owing to the massively conflicting personalities of his component parts - and even more significantly the hatred Breakdown, Drag Strip, Wildrider and Dead End have for their leader Motormaster - he is the most unstable of the Gestalt Transformers. He would be the ultimate Decepticon weapon were it not for the conflict within him.

The Stunticons that make up Menasor are a group of Decepticons feared for their psychotic behavior and their capability to do death-defying vehicular stunts and wreak havoc on the streets. They were called Stuntrons in Japan and Cascadicons in France. They were introduced into the Transformers toyline in late 1985 and were sold as a Menasor gift set, and then sold separately in 1986 in most department stores (e.g., Toys R' Us, Sears, Target, Kay-Bee Toys).[1] Their enemies are the Aerialbots.[2] The Stunticons were mistakenly billed as Autobots when their toys were released in Italy.

The five Stunticons that make up Menasor are:

Animated series

When the Decepticons failed to steal a super fuel from the Autobots because they used their land vehicles modes to maximum advantage, Megatron hatched a plan to counterattack the Autobots by creating a team of Decepticon super-cars for more power on the road. They started by stealing five Earth vehicles. The first vehicle stolen was a yellow 6-wheeled Tyrrell P34 Formula One car during a race. Next were a maroon Porsche 928, and a black Kenworth K100 Aerodyne tractor-trailer with a 2nd level sleeper. Later, two more cars showed up: a white Lamborghini Countach, and a dark grey Ferrari 308. The cars were soon converted to Decepticons. Megatron tested out the new robots' abilities on the roads and then through the woods. Rumble stated "Incredible, not even the Autobots can do that kind of stunt driving!" Megatron replied "Stunt driving? Yesss. Behold, the Stunticons!" The Aerialbots were soon built by the Autobots as a countermeasure to the Stunticons. With their ability to survive head-on collisions with just about anything they were dangerous foes. In their first encounter with the Autobots they all but defeated them until the arrival of the Aerialbots. The two teams battled, first individually then in their combined modes of Menasor and Superion, with Menasor only being defeated through the intervention of Omega Supreme.[3]

The Stunticons remained part of Megatron's Earthbound forces after this, and were involved in many of his schemes. They kidnapped Perceptor to find the cure to a plague of Cosmic Rust; after curing the Decepticons Megatron predictably double-crossed the Autobots and sent the Stunticons to prevent the Autobots from acquiring the cure themselves, leading to another battle between Menasor and Superion, which Menasor lost. During a "smash and grab" mission to acquire parts for Megatron's latest super-weapon, the Stunticons' transformations proved instrumental in causing confusion among the humans. Until revealing themselves as Decepticon warriors, their acts of vehicular terrorism led uninformed humans to believe they were Autobots (also seen by humans as "driverless cars"). The Autobots used this misinformation to their advantage by capturing and disguising themselves as the real Stunticons (Optimus Prime as Motormaster, Jazz as Dead End, Mirage as Drag Strip, Windcharger as Wildrider, and Sideswipe as Breakdown), fooling even Megatron. This caused much confusion for the Decepticons, especially when the real Stunticons (as Menasor) returned and the Autobots were able to merge into Menasor (due to Windcharger's magnetic ability and Mirage's Illusion ability). The real one quickly made short work of the fake, but the weapon was destroyed. They were next seen sabotaging a European road race (with human and Autobot participants) to gain a rare metal, driving most of the participants off the road and merging into Menasor to finish off the survivors. They were defeated when one of the humans drove his car right into Menasor, distracting him long enough for the Autobots to escape. They were instrumental in defeating Bruticus when Starscream attempted to seize power, after they realised Starscream would not stop with destroying just Megatron.

They were not present at the battle of Autobot City, but were present on Chaar in the aftermath of Unicron's defeat, defeating a weakened Devastator as Menasor for an Energon Cube. They continued to appear sporadically throughout the third season. On one notable occasion they were able to force Rodimus Prime off the road during a race and steal the Autobot Matrix of Leadership. On another, they lost a fight to a one-armed Defensor shortly after the Protectobot First Aid ( the traditional left arm of Defensor) took a leave of absence.

The Stunticons appeared in the Japan exclusive Scramble City episode where they joined forces with the Combaticons to fight against the Aerialbots and the Protectobots. They could, like their nemesises Aerialbots, switch limbs for "stronger" attack, which wasn't seen in the series after this episode. This episode was included with commentary on 20th anniversary edition of Transformers: the Movie.

The Stunticons made sporadic appearances during the Headmasters series, first to be seen in the first episode, simply running away from Fortress Maxmus along with Predaking, Devastator and Abominus, then in the second episode in an epic but short fight with his nemesis Superion, where he was defeated.

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 Menasor to make a return appearance. He was one of the nine great "Decepticon Generals" to serve under the mysterious insectoid being known as Violenjiger. The remaining generals were Devastator, King Poseidon, Bruticus, Predaking, Abominus, Trypticon, Overlord and Black Zarak.

Comics

Devil's Due Publishing

The Stunticons first appeared in the second G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers miniseries from Devil's Due. After Cobra Commander and Cobra, followed by G.I. Joe, had journeyed to Cybertron, weapons fire caused a critical malfunction in Teletran 3, causing numerous Autobots and Decepticons to become time-displaced. Among these were the Stunticons, who were dumped in 1930s Earth and reformatted into period cars. They were eventually defeated and returned to the present by a combined force of G.I. Joe and Cobra members, as well as another Transformer lost in that time - Optimus Prime.

The Stunticons would also appear in the third mini-series, being recruited by SerpentO.R, a human military-created cyborg with Megatron's memories, and would participate in the ambush that killed Bumblebee. Seen in group shots where Serpentor is gathering the Decepticon army, their next major role would be in the assault on Capital City, assisting Predaking and Piranacon in taking down Omega Supreme. Breakdown and the Seacon Nautilator were the ones assigned to guard the human captives, but Snake-Eyes used his ninja powers to take control of Breakdown and had him shoot Nautilator, freeing them. Razorclaw and Motormaster were the ones who stopped Prime's attack on Serpentor, beating him near death, but were then killed by the Cobra Commander-controlled Serpentor.

Dreamwave Productions

The robots who became the Stunticons existed long before the Decepticons arrived on Earth. Motormaster in particular was a right-hand bot of Starscream's Predacon faction. Some time between the first and second War Within volumes, the team formed. At least Motormaster and Dead End later joined Starscream's Predacon faction.

In volume 3, Motormaster was responsible for the shooting and near destruction of Grimlock (while attempting to assassinate Ultra Magnus) before being blasted himself. The series was discontinued before it was completed.

The Stunticons then appeared in the second Generation 1 mini-series where Menasor was revived by Rumble and Frenzy. The Stunticons had been placed in stasis due to their dangerous unpredictability, especially merged as Menasor. When freed, they merged and went on a rampage killing the Omnibots, Roadbuster, Whirl, and damaging the Protectobots (combined as Defensor) before battling and being defeated by Ultra Magnus who used the fact the five Stunticons that make up Menasor were constantly at war with each other while merged. Ultra Magnus won the battle without transforming from truck mode once. With the closure of Dreamwave, the fate of the Stunticons is unknown.

Fun Publications

Based on the Transformers: Classics toy line, the Timelines 2007 story is set 15 years after the end of the Marvel Comics story (ignoring all events of the Marvel UK and Generation 2 comics).

Although Menasor has yet to be depicted in the comics, he did have a toy made for the line, which was the basis for his form when he appeared in the Classicverse Lithograph sold at BotCon 2007. In this art he was depicted with Motormaster's head.

Drag Strip appears in At Fight's End working with Overkill and Acid Storm against the Autobots Elita One, Springer and Snarl.

IDW Publications

The Stunticons made their first IDW Publishing appearance in issue 3 of The Transformers: Megatron Origin, appearing amongst Megatron's gathering of gladiators that would eventually become the Decepticons. In issue 4 Motormaster is run over by Sentinel Prime during the revolution in Kaon.

Menasor would first appear in the 2009-2011 ongoing series. The Stunticons were revealed to have been a part of the invasion force during the attempted conquering of Earth, but were scattered following the Decepticon's defeat. They reunited under Swindle, who implements the Stunticons with combiner technology, allowing them to form Menasor. However the technology's instability makes Mensaor's individual component's personalities clash, allowing the Autbots to defeat Menasor.

A few years later on Cybertron, Swindle revealed he possessed the Enigma of Combination (having been given it by Starscream), and they used it to perfect their previously unstable combination, and so Swindle and Menasor attacked the colony of Caminus, believing they had plentiful resources. However Swindle realised that Starscream had set them up, and despite attempts to get the combiner to split apart, Menasor went into a rage, influenced by the temperament of new team-member Blackjack. He proceeded to cause chaos on Caminus until the Aerialbots arrived and combined into Superion, who managed to defeat the Stunticon combiner. The Stunticons were later freed and formed Menasor again, who tried to get back to Caminus, only to be confronted by Devastator. Soon they ended up in a four-way tussel with Superion and Defensor.

Manga

In the Transformers Manga #5 Galvatron and his Decepticons attacked the Prime Energy Tower. Galvatron ordered the Decepticons to form Menasor, Devastator and Bruticus and attack. Rodimus Prime counted this move by ordering in Superion, Omega Supreme and Defensor. Galvatron then ordered in Predaking, knowing that Sky Lynx was elsewhere and couldn't counter them. Rodimus ordered the Omnibots to attack Predaking's legs. Tripping up the giant he fell into the other Decepticon giants, winning the day for the Autobots.[4]

Marvel Comics

Through Soundwave, Megatron was able to tap into the Creation Matrix as Optimus Prime gave life to the Aerialbots, simultaneously giving life to the Stunticons. They battled the Aerialbots and then played a lesser role in the series as more characters were introduced.[5]

They were featured in issue #22, Heavy Traffic, where they battle the Aerialbots as well as Circuit Breaker and RAAT troops.[6]

Motormaster appeared in issue #41 "Totaled!" He was among the Decepticon forces that attacked the Autobots on the moon.[7]

Menasor originally appeared in the U.K. Marvel Transformers comics in a very odd way - as part of a dream sequence. In previous stories, Optimus Prime had transferred part of the Matrix of Leadership to Buster Witwicky. During a mission, Soundwave detected this and used one of Bombshell's cerebro-shells to tap into his mind. Buster's vision showed the future of the Transformer race - the combiners. Menasor and Bruticus battled and lost to Defensor and Superion with Shockwave and Prime looking on. This set the wheels in motion for more combiner teams on both sides.

Menasor made his U.S. Marvel debut a short time later, battling the Aerialbots over the damaged Skids. This was complicated by the presence of the unstable Circuit Breaker and RAAT. To discredit their opponents, the Stunticons actually protected Skids, then formed Menasor to battle the Aerialbots, who'd formed Superion, but were attacked by Circuit Breaker, allowing Menasor to easily beat his foe. He did not appear again save a brief appearance in the UK comics' Legacy of Unicron arc, where he was used by Soundwave to break through the doors of Shockwave's citadel to try to save him (unsuccessfully) from Death's Head, Cyclonus and Scourge.

In the U.K. Earthforce storyline, Wildrider was killed by Megatron.

Breakdown makes an appearance in the Decepticon forces under the command of Megatron in issue #7 of the Marvel Generation 2 comic series, in a story called "New Dawn." Megatron leads his Decepticons against Jhiaxus' second generation Cybertronians near the moon of Tykos. The Decepticons are defeated and Megatron left injured, presumed dead, but swearing revenge.[8]

Games

The Classic line appeared in Transformers Battle Circuit, a simple Flash-based video game on the Hasbro web site. In this one-on-one fighting game, you press the right and left arrow keys to try to overpower your opponent. In the game you can play Rodimus, Bumblebee, Grimlock, Jetfire, Starscream, Astrotrain, Trypticon or Menasor. Optimus Prime and Megatron each appear as the boss you must defeat to win the game.[9]

Toys

A gift set featuring all five Stunticons.[10]
A recolor of Cybertron Legends Optimus Prime, given Motormaster's color scheme, and renamed Menasor.
A redeco of Titanium Rodimus Prime in Generation 1 Motormaster colors was produced exclusively for the San Diego Comic-Con in 2007. The toy's bio stated that it was indeed Generation 1 Menasor.
A 5-pack of Stunticons that form Menasor.
A 6-pack of Stunticons that combine into Manasor, done in Generation 2 colors.
The artwork to an unreleased toy named Menasor was revealed by website Iacon One, however no pictures of this toy was ever released to the public if this toy in fact actually existed. The artwork is clearly of a toy that would have been Thunderclash originating from Europe during 1992. Menasor is not known whether to be a completely new individual or an upgrade to the original character. The toy would have been released as part of the Universe (2003) toy line.

Transformers: Cybertron

Menasor
Autobot/Decepticon
Information
Sub-group Ultra Vehicles
Rank 8
Partner Heavy Load
Alternate modes Gigantion Mining Machine
Series Transformers: Cybertron
Japanese voice actor Kazam Isamu Katana

Menasor was the name to a Transformer from the fictional planet Gigantion, also known as the Giant Planet and transformed into a large scale drill. Unlike his G1 counterpart, Menasor is not composed of five robots, but is a sentient lifeform of his own and has a more lively personality. He is known as Moledive in Japan. Menasor is teamed up with his Mini-Con partner Heavy Load.

According to exclusive bio information in the Transformers Collectors' Club magazine #15 Heavy Load's function is maintenance, and he acts as conscience for Menasor. He doesn't wish to rebel against the laws of his planet like Menasor, but he does sympathize with Menasor's point of view and went with him to take care of him.

Animated series

In the episode #40 "Giant" Menasor sided with Megatron because he was tired of Gigantion's tradition's that didn't make sense. In return for the location of the Cyber Planet Key, Menasor gets to lead the Giant Planet. He briefly engaged the members of the Cybertron Defense Force-Hot Shot, Red Alert, and Scattershot-but despite his Gigantion Transformer strength he was defeated.

Heavy Load first appeared in episode #46, called "Optimus". In that episode Menasor defeated Metroplex in single combat, but Drill Bit and Heavy Load pleaded with Menasor to not finish of Metroplex. Appealing to Menasor to remember the past the rebellious youth rejoined Metroplex's side and allied himself with the Autobots.

In the final episode of Transformers: Cybertron, "Beginning", Optimus Prime (Galaxy Convoy) proposed a new Space Bridge project using the power of the four Cyber Planet Keys and the four great Cybertronian ships. Many Autobots and former Decepticons joined in the project. Leaving Jetfire (Dreadrock) in charge of Cybertron, Optimus Prime lead the Atlantis with the Earth Cyber Planet Key, joined by Red Alert, Safeguard, Scattorshot, Menasor and Heavy Load.

Fun Publications

Menasor was one of the supporting characters to appear in Fun Publications fiction "Gone Too Far", a text-based story set on Transtech Cybertron. Menasor was one of a large group of Transformers (from several factions and multiple dimensions) who attempted to rebel against the leaders of the "Transtech" dimension's Cybertron. Their leader Gutcruncher was killed. Menasor was among the gang of mechs who hunted the assassins - initially believing it to be the Autobots Hubcap and Jackpot. When Hubcap tricked the Decepticon Black Shadow into revealing he was the assassin, the gang attacked and killed Black Shadow. Menasor was arrested by Cheetor for killing Black Shadow, was "mode-locked" and sent to an impound yard.[11]

Toys

Cybertron Menasor is depicted in the animated series as being about 58 feet tall. His 8.5 inch tall toy would be about 1/82 scale. This means he's nearly HO scale.
Came with the Mini-Con, Heavy Load.
Menasor's design seems to be the inspiration for Timelines Omega Doom.

Kre-O: Transformers

Menasor
Decepticon
Information
Sub-group Kreon Micro Changer Combiner
Function Decepticon warrior
Partner Bruticus and Devastator.
Alternate modes 4 Stunticons
Series Kre-O Transformers

Menasor is a Decepticon warrior made up of the Stunticons Breakdown, Dead End, Drag Strip, and Motorbreath.

Kre-O comic

In "Megatron's Ambition!? The Solar Tower Is Built!", Along With Bruticus and Devastator, Menasor attempted to place a giant bust of Megatron's head atop the Decepticon's solar tower. However, the three were unable to work as a team and sent the tower collapsing on themselves.

Toys

Part of the third wave of Kreon Micro-Changer combiner sets, Menasor comes as a set of four component Kreons: Breakdown, Dead End, Drag Strip, and Motorbreath. The Kreons can be built into their robot modes or their vehicle modes, or they can be built into Menasor by taking them apart and combining their pieces. As Kreon combiners only involve four components, Kre-O Brake-Neck (Wildrider) instead ended up as a Series 4 blind-bagged figure.

References

  1. ↑ Alvarez, J.E. (2001). The Unofficial Guide to Transformers 1980s Through 1990s Revised & Expanded 2nd Edition. Schiffer Publishing Ltd. p. 39. ISBN 0764313649.
  2. ↑ FILM REVIEW: Boyhood dreams come true with Transformers, University Wire, July 6, 2007
  3. ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7GlEDb0KIo
  4. ↑ http://www.tfarchive.com/comics/japanese/trans155.php
  5. ↑ The Official Overstreet Comic Book Companion, 11th Edition, Page 257 by Robert M. Overstreet, 2010
  6. ↑ "Transformers" #22 (1987)
  7. ↑ http://www.comicvine.com/transformers-totaled/37-57460/
  8. ↑ Seibertron.com
  9. ↑ Entertainment/OnlineGames/GameSelect/Action Games/Transformers/Transformers Battle Circuit
  10. ↑ Hasbro.com - History
  11. ↑ S. Trent Troop and Greg Sepelak (2008). Gone Too Far. Illustrator Evan Gauntt. Fun Publications.

External links

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