Banzai-Tron

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Banzai-Tron is the name of a fictional character in the Transformers franchise.

1 Transformers: Generation 1
- 1.1 Dreamwave Productions
- 1.2 IDW Publishing
2 Transformers: Cybertron
3 References

[edit] Transformers: Generation 1

Banzai-Tron
Transformers character
Affiliation	Decepticon
Sub-Group	Action Masters
Function	Martial arts warrior
Partner	Razor-Sharp
Motto	"To the victor go the profits"
Series	Transformers: Generation 1

Banzai-Tron, produced in 1990, was included in the final subline of Generation One Transformers — the Action Masters. Action Masters did not transform, but included accessories or weapons which did. Banzai-Tron was one of the Action Masters based on new characters, rather than pre-existing characters.

Banzai-Tron's biography lists him as a master of Crystalocution, the Cybertronic martial art of defeating an opponent by attacking his metal fracture points. He uses this to reduce an enemy to spare parts, which he sells for a profit. Banzai-Tron's partner, Razor-Sharp is a mechanical crab that can tear through almost any kind of metal obstacle. It can transform into a semi-automatic rifle that shoots plasma energy projectiles that explode on contact.

It's unknown what Banzai-Tron's alternate mode might be, but he appears to vaguely resemble a samurai warrior.

[edit] Dreamwave Productions

Though Banzai-Tron was not feature in any of Dreamwave Productions' titles, he did get a profile in their More Than Meets the Eye series. It basically expanded on his tech-spec information.

[edit] IDW Publishing

Banzai-Tron's first fictional appearance would be in IDW Publishing's The Transformers: Spotlight issue featuring Hot Rod. It was revealed at the end of the story that he was behind Dealer's actions to steal an artifact called the "Magnificence" from Hot Rod.^[1] He reappeared in the issue on Arcee where, acting on info from Doubledealer, he had the Combaticons attack the Autobot penal facility on Garrus-9, abducting the Monstructor components for his secret service. He is the head of the Decepticon Secret Service which appears to be fairly high up in the chain of command.

[edit] Transformers: Cybertron

Banzai-Tron received an extremely unusual reference in the Cyber Key info (found on Hasbro's website) for the Transformers: Cybertron character Backstop. The info indicated that Bludgeon and Banzai-Tron had been the ones to teach Backstop the art of being a martial warrior.