Sixshot
Sixshot is the name of two fictional characters from the various Transformers series. Introduced in 1987, Sixshot appeared in the last few episodes of the original US Transformers animated series, voiced by Neil Ross. His defining gimmick was that he had six different forms, not two like a normal Transformer. He was also a regular character in the Japanese anime series Transformers: Headmasters where he was voiced by Michihiro Ikemizu. In the Japanese anime he was portrayed as a ninja. Sixshot appeared in the Transformers comics by Dreamwave Productions, IDW Publishing and other companies. In later years a second character sharing the name Sixshot appeared in the Transformers: Energon series, but this one was the brother of that's series Shockblast character.
Transformers: Generation 1
|
Sixshot Box Art | |
| Decepticon | |
|---|---|
| Information | |
| Sub-group | Six Changers |
| Function | Solo Transformer Assault Group |
| Rank | 8 |
| Motto | "Life is worth living only as long as there are enemies worth destroying." |
| Alternate modes | Cybertronian Jet Fighter/Cybertronian Car/Laser Pistol/Flying Wolf/Cybertronian Tank |
| Series | Transformers: Generation 1 |
| English voice actor | Neil Ross[1] |
| Japanese voice actor | Michihiro Ikemizu |
Sixshot is a murderous warrior who carries out his job with a fierce intensity. He is a machine of few redeeming qualities, though chief among them is the fact that he respects all his foes, and will always speak highly of those whom he dispatches to the "great junkyard in the sky". The thrill of battle is what Sixshot lives for – he considers his life only worth living as long as there are enemies worth destroying.
Sixshot is a Solo Transformer Assault Group ("S.T.A.G."), or in simpler parlance, a one-robot army – he is named for his near-unique ability to assume six different modes. His armored carrier mode is armed with twin laser batteries, while in ramming tank mode, he is outfitted with an infra-red range finder and target tracker. He can attain the power of flight in his star cruiser mode, with a range of eight million miles, and is also able to take to the skies as a jet-propelled laser pistol (either full-size, or shrunken to be wielded by other Transformers). In these four modes and robot mode, he wields twin hypersonic concussion blasters, but his sixth mode – that of a winged wolf-creature – has no need for them, preferring to tear his opponents apart with its claws and fangs.
Released in 1987, Sixshot's number of alternate modes was unprecedented – his instruction leaflet was even sealed shut with a sticker, challenging buyers to figure out all six modes without aid.
Sixshot is the father of his Autobot counterpart and fellow six-changer Quickswitch. How Sixshot was able to produce offspring is unknown as at the time of release, Transformer reproduction had not been clearly defined, and no mention was made to who Quickswitch's mother was. Also, it is possible that Sixshot may have produced Quickswitch asexually in the same manner as the Latter-day Decepticons introduced in the Transformers: Generation 2 comic book produced by Marvel Comics.
Animated series
Sixshot's only appearance in the original Transformers animated series was in The Rebirth, Part 1, the first episode of the fourth and final season of the show. Arriving on Cybertron with the other Decepticon forces after the theft of the key to the Plasma Energy Chamber, Sixshot was ordered by Galvatron into battle against the Aerialbots, assuming each of his alternate modes in turn to defeat the five robots. Taking them down with ease, he dubbed the entire process as easy as "shooting cyber-ducks in a barrel".
He was last seen fighting Fortress Maximus with his fellow decepticons in The Rebirth, Part 3.
In the animated commercials for the Autobot Quickswitch, it was stated that Sixshot was Quickswitch's father.
Transformers: Headmasters
In contrast to his minimal part in the US animated series, Sixshot received a major role in the Japanese-exclusive series, Transformers: The Headmasters, which supplanted The Rebirth's place in continuity in Japan. In this series, Sixshot is characterised as a ninja, and in-line with this idea, possesses several additional powers and abilities of disguise and distraction.[2] He can generate up to five holographic duplicates of himself, able to assume any one of his six modes, which can be either intangible, allowing enemy fire to pass through them while the true Sixshot uses them as a distraction to make his move, or solidified, allowing them to attack to opponents, and he possesses the ability to disguise himself in various ways, either by simply making himself invisible, or through hologrammatic disguises of other beings and objects. The error-ridden RTM-1 dub of the series had Sixshot introduce himself as a "ninja consultant", a term which many Transformers fans use to refer to him.
Sixshot is known to have visited Planet Master, the world colonised by diminutive Cybertronians, at some point in the past, at which time he killed Abel, a friend of the future Autobot Headmaster, Chromedome. Subsequently joining up with the combined Decepticon forces of Galvatron and Scorponok, Sixshot made himself known to the Earth-based Autobots in 2011, when he led a Decepticon contingent to prevent an Autobot relief team from Earth reaching Cybertron. During the battle, Sixshot encountered Autobot Earth commander Ultra Magnus and an enmity was established between the two.
Operating as the Decepticons' Earth commander, Sixshot first displayed his extensive transformation capabilities by staging a six-pronged attack on Earth, adopting each of his different modes to menace one of six different countries in an effort to make the humans and Autobots believe that they were dealing with six different foes. Unfortunately, since he had cloaked himself in shadow, even his fellow Decepticons, Cyclonus and Scourge, did not know who he was, and ruined his plan by attacking him.
Sixshot later used his disguise powers to pose as Galvatron for a meeting with Spike Witwicky, holding the Autobots attention while the true Galvatron led the Decepticons into space on a mission to ransack other worlds of their energy. Upon their return to Earth, Sixshot engaged Ultra Magnus in battle once again, and unveiled his secret, seventh transformation, the Wingwolf, which combined the numerous aspects of his other modes, which he used to kill Magnus, further enraging Chromedome, who had now lost another friend to the ninja.
Discovering that Galvatron planned to cannibalise parts from his strongest warriors to increase his own power, Sixshot began to fear for his own safety. Attempting to protect himself by entering into an alliance with Scorponok and revealing Galvatron's plan to him, Sixshot returned to Planet Master with him once Galvatron had been destroyed by the Autobots. There, he masqueraded as Chromdome himself to lure his friend, Jack, into a trap, brainwashing him and fitting a bomb into his body, forcing Chromedome himself to kill his friend to prevent the destruction of Fortress Maximus.
On the return trip to Earth, Sixshot was separated from the other Decepticons when he and Daniel Witwicky were swept up in a cosmic storm and deposited on a barren planet. Possessed of a warrior's honor, Sixshot wished no harm upon Daniel and protected him from the dangerous rock-like lifeforms of the planet, and the two developed a friendship.
Unaware that Scorponok had deliberately abandoned him, Sixshot caught up with his fellow Decepticons in the Sol system asteroid belt, and the animosity between him and Chromedome exploded when he challenged the Headmasters to a duel. Daniel intervened in the ensuing conflict, attempting to stop his two friends from fighting, but at that point, a bomb planet on the asteroid by Scorponok intended to rid him of Sixshot exploded, apparently killing the ninja.
Sixshot survived the explosion, however, hitching a ride on the exterior of Battleship Maximus to return to Earth. Gaining information on Scorponok's plan to destroy the planet from the Decepticon Clones, he then tracked the Decepticon leader to the lost continent of Lemuria, where he discovered the full details of his plan to use the continent's Crysmag metal to tear the Earth apart. Escaping through use of his hologram powers, Sixshot joined in the final battle at the North Pole, saving Daniel from Battletrap and Menasor before bidding him a fond farewell.
This may not have been Sixshot's final appearance however. Transformers Victory featured the Autobot Greatshot, who while possessing a different robot and beast mode, possessed the other four modes identically. He is also confirmed as a former Decepticon. Some fans have speculated that Greatshot is in fact a reformatted Sixshot.
Prior to the launch of the next Japanese series, Super-God Masterforce, an epilogue to Headmasters was published in Japan's TV Magazine, which revealed that Sixshot had continued to aid the Autobots in his own way, revealing to them that Scorponok still lived following the final confrontation at the North Pole, and warning them of the existence of Devil Z.
Marvel Comics
Sixshot's solitary appearance in Marvel Comics' Transformers series actually appears to be an artist's mistake. In the second issue of the Headmasters mini-series, when Scorponok's forces arrived on the planet of Nebulos, Sixshot could be glimpsed in jet mode amongst the troops, commenting on the strange appearance of the Nebulon natives. He never appeared again, however, except in a flashback to this same scene.
Dreamwave Productions
Despite sparing appearances in Dreamwave Productions' 21st century re-imagining of the G1 universe, Sixshot proved to play a role in an important legacy for the series. At one point, while on the Shockwave-dominated Cybertron, the Dinobots were shown piloting a vehicle identical to Sixshot's tank mode. No explanation was offered for this oddity, but it was suggested to be deliberate, as Shockwave had already conducted a series of experiments into the creation of Transformers with multiple alternate modes that had already spawned the Duocons and Triple Changers. Continuing his experiments in the wastes of Cybertron following his deposition as the planet's ruler, Shockwave eventually perfected the six-mode Transformer, Sixshot, of whom Blitzwing was particularly jealous. When Blitzwing was seemingly destroyed in battle, Sixshot ventured out into the battlefield to recover his remains.
Aside from what appeared to be his tank mode, and the shadow of his robot mode, Sixshot did not receive a full and proper appearance in the Dreamwave comics. Undoubtedly, he would have eventually been given one, but the bankruptcy and closure of Dreamwave Productions left his story untold.
Devil's Due Publishing
In the third G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers crossover from Devil's Due Publishing, Sixshot appeared as part of Serpentor's Decepticon alliance on Cybertron. Attacking the Autobot Capital City, Sixshot led the Decepticon air attack, but was defeated by Omega Supreme. He was seemingly killed when he smashed into the face of Piranacon, forcibly guided there by Optimus Prime.
IDW Publishing
After the rights to the Transformers licence passed to IDW Publishing, they began to produce their own material. One Spotlight issue featured Sixshot as its primary focus. A weapon created for total chaos, Sixshot is the best at what he does, even capable of annihilating entire worlds. However his power made him a pariah even amongst his fellow Decepticons. Waiting for his next assignment Sixshot began to grow restless, noting the absence of the Terrorcons (the only Transformers that can tolerate him, and actually want to be like him).[3][4]
Setting out to locate them he journeyed to Muma-Obscura, a world devastated by the mysterious lifeforms known as the Reapers. Greeted by a party of the Reapers Sixshot engaged in a fight, with the location of the Terrorcons as the prize. After Sixshot won, realizing he was merely being tested, the Reapers revealed that, like Sixshot, they were once tools of war with few equals. Since then, they have aspired to a greater purpose and banded together to rid the universe of war by obliterating the most war-like races. The Reapers offered membership to Sixshot, asking him to kill the Terrorcons as a test. Sixshot seemed to accept and blasted the Terrorcons - but when the smoke cleared he had merely shot around them. The Reapers left, promising to meet him again.
In the last issue of The Transformers: Escalation Megatron, incensed by a defeat at Prime's hands, decided to call Sixshot to Earth to accelerate the destruction the Decepticons would cause - unaware the Reapers planned to follow in his wake. In the follow-up series The Transformers: Devastation Sixshot was ordered to annihilate the Autobots on Earth. Despite protesting the bypassing of protocol, Sixshot agreed, and easily shot down Ark-19. Sent after Ratchet, who had survived in an escape pod, he tracked him down but was instead attacked by the rest of the Ark's crew. A battle ensued, with Sixshot incapacitating most of the crew and battling Optimus Prime one-on-one. Before he could deliver the killing blow he was recalled by Megatron, as the Decepticon base was under attack by the Reapers. Arriving and attacking them, their leader again attempted to sway him to their side. Starscream's sudden reppearance seemingly encouraged him to defect, but Starscream took him out with a shut-off code learned during his time as Megatron's bodyguard - a precaution in case Sixshot ever turned against him. However, Sixshot's body was taken by Galvatron back to the Dead Universe while battle raged between the Decepticons and Reapers.
Manga
Sixshot appears in the Generations 2011 issue #2 "The Fierce Fighting on Planet Nebulos" where he is among the Decepticon forces who ambush the Autobots on Nebulos.[5]
Toys
- Generation 1 Sixshot (1987)
- Twenty limited edition all black Sixshot figured were produced, these can easily fetch over a thousand dollars from collectors.[6]
- Sixshot was later remolded into Autobot Greatshot in Japan, and then was remolded further into the Brave series characters Shadow Maru. This toy was designed by Takara's Takashi Kunihiro.[7]
Transformers: Energon
| Decepticon | |
|---|---|
| Information | |
| Sub-group | Triple Changers, Ultra Vehicles |
| Rank | 5 |
| Motto | "I will destroy my enemy's spirit as soon as I crush his body." |
| Alternate modes | Cybertronian Tank/Satellite |
| Series | Transformers: Energon |
| English voice actor | Terry Klassen[8] |
| Japanese voice actor | Nobutoshi Kanna |
In the universe of Transformers: Energon, the name “Sixshot” returned to use in a slightly modified form as Six Shot, the younger and dumber brother of the famous Decepticon criminal, Shockblast.
Animated series
Like his elder sibling, with whom he shared a body design, Six Shot was captured and imprisoned by the Autobots on Cybertron, although he was confined to a standard cell, considered less of a risk than his murderous brother. When the majority of the Decepticons under Megatron's command were captured following the destruction of Unicron, the cell adjacent to Six Shot was occupied by Snowcat, who told him of his brother’s demise, wrongly blaming Optimus Prime for the deed (when it had, in actuality, been Unicron who had destroyed Shockblast after he had betrayed Megatron). When Megatron’s remaining forces attacked the planet and liberated his troops, Six Shot requested to join them, seeking revenge for his brother.
Unfortunately for Megatron, Six Shot proved no more trustworthy than his brother. Acting as the Decepticon electronics and technology expert, perpetually manning the primary control center on Cybertron, Six Shot had no interest in serving Megatron, desiring instead only the destruction of Optimus Prime. To that end, he disobeyed Megatron's commands on numerous occasions, and received several beatings for it, yet all the while remaining slickly confident of his own necessity. Eventually, Six Shot sought to gain the power of the Super Energon that had transformed Megatron into Galvatron, openly attacking Galvatron in the attempt, but was stopped by Scorponok. Galvatron then gave himself a second exposure to the liquid, growing to an immense height, and killed Six Shot, grinding him beneath his heel. But it is later revealed that he is heavily damaged as he told Scorponok that he is free.
He only transforms into a tank once in the series, but his toy – a repaint of Shockblast – transforms into both a satellite and a tank, although even Shockblast himself only ever assumed satellite mode in the series.
Toys
- Energon Sixshot
- Energon Sixshot is a redeco of Energon Shockblast.
References
- ↑ "The TCC Presents: Screamers Retro-Views - G1 Interview with Neil Ross". Transformers Collectors Club Magazine 1 (37): 3.
- ↑ Transformers: The Ark II: Volume 2, Page 70 by Jim Sorenson, Bill Forster, Nick Roche - 2008
- ↑ http://comics.ign.com/articles/738/738759p1.html
- ↑ http://www.bwtf.com/comicbooks/idw/sixshot
- ↑ Simon Furman (w), Guido Guidi (p). "Generations 2011" The Fierce Fighting on Planet Nebulos 2 (2011), Japan: Takara Tomy
- ↑ Cobra Island Toys - Transformer Archive
- ↑ http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/universe-classics-20-29/transformers-generations-2009-takara-tomy-transformers-henkei-staff-interview-translation-167074/
- ↑ Lenburg, Jeff (2009). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Third Edition. Infobase Publishing. p. 657. ISBN 978-0-8160-6599-8.
