Terrorcon
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The name Terrorcons refers to several different groups in the fictional Transformers toyline. They are referred to as Terrortrons in Japan.
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[edit] Transformers: Generation 1
The Terrorcons are a group of five Decepticons under the command of Galvatron. The Terrorcons transform into nightmarish monsters and combine to form the "combiner" Abominus. Their counterparts and rivals are the Technobots. Unlike the other combiners (Autobot or Decepticon), Abominus has a time limitation on his combined form as a means of control (as this was only seen when the Terrorcons were working for the Quintessons, this may not be a permanent feature). Abominus is the strongest of the combiner's but also one of the slowest and least intelligent (lacking Predaking's agility, Computron's intelligence and Menasor's berserker speed); in fact apart from grunts and growls he has only ever spoken once in the U.S. animated series: "Computron think too much!". His tech spec intelligence rating of 1 is the lowest of any combiner.
The five Terrorcons are:
- Hun-Grrr1 (Hun-Gruu): The leader, transforms into a two-headed dragon. Loves to eat anything made of metal, even enemy bullets. Motto: Eat only what you need - destroy the rest.
- Blot (Boot): Transforms into a mole-like creature (or possibly an ogre), identified in Japanese as a "mutant". An utterly stupid brute with extremely bad manners and hygiene. Motto: I'm not as bad as I look... I'm worse.
- Cutthroat: Transforms into a pterodactyl-like beast (perhaps a griffin or harpy). A merciless killer. Motto: Compassion is the currency of losers.
- Rippersnapper: Transforms into a land shark. A vicious predator who attacks almost anything that moves. Motto: Autobots are an error I intend to correct.
- Sinnertwin: Transforms into an Orthrus-type monster. An exploring warrior who is always looking for new enemies. Motto: The sound of ripping metal is music to my audio modules.
- Note 1: The correct spelling of the Terrorcon leader's name is controversial. Various places in the toyline itself and the accompanying comic have included such spellings as Hun-Gurrr, Hun-Grrr, Hun-Gurr, Hun-Grr and even Huh-Grr.
[edit] Animated series
The Terrorcons first appeared as part of Galvatron's expedition to the lifeless head of Unicron, hoping to obtain anti-electrons to gain the upper hand over the Autobots. Rodimus Prime and his team investigated, but Galvatron's anti-electron beam caused them to malfunction. The Terrorcons eagerly attempted to take advantage of this, but a momentarily intelligent Grimlock managed to create the Technobots. The two teams battled as Abominus and Computron, with Abominus being soundly beaten and forced to flee. They next appeared under control of the Quintessons (during one of Galvatron's periodic bouts of insanity) who, in order to control the unruly Terrorcons, placed a time limit device on them in order to limit the amount of time they could spend as Abominus, later sending them to kill a human who had discovered their base on Saturn. (This episode was actually supposed to be aired after the above-mentioned episode, but was aired first in a transmission error). They were part of Primacron's assistant's animal-Transformers themed army who battled against Tornedron, but were deactivated by the villain, only to be later revived by Grimlock. Their last major appearance was to steal a new heat-resistant metal from Dr Morgan on Earth. The Technobots intervened, and in the ensuing battle and subsequent combiner grudge-match, this time the Terrorcons emerged victorious and escaped with the metal, injuring Dr Morgan's daughter - leading to his later attempts to kill all Transformers - Autobot or Decepticon - with the Hate Plague. They briefly appeared in The Rebirth, battling the Throttlebots and once again coming up against the Technobots during the attack on Autobot City.
[edit] Japanese Transformers
The Terrorcons would make sporadic appearances throughout the Japanese Transformers: The Headmasters show, mostly acting as part of Galvatron's army and battling other Special Teams in their combined mode, but never having any major roles. Abominus would make a further appearance alongside most of the original series Decepticon Combiners in the single episode of Transformers: Zone, as one of the nine "Great Decepticon Generals" (the others being Devastator, Menasor, Bruticus, Predaking, King Poseidon, Trypticon, Overlord and BlackZarak) dispatched by the alien Violenjiger to harvest Zone Energy. They were defeated by Dai Atlas. It is interesting to note that Abominus here is a singular entity and shows no sign of being the combined form of different Transformers.
[edit] Marvel Comics
The Terrorcons would make their first appearance in the Transformers comic in the Headmasters miniseries, working for Scorponok on Nebulos. Issue three opened with them randomly attacking a Nebulon city and being opposed by the Technobots & Autobot Headmasters. They also battled the Autobot Targetmasters in the fourth issue, making them flee when the Autobots realized the damage their battle was doing to a Nebulan city (and the monument they were trying to save). They would travel to Earth and make their first appearance in the main comic in issue 49, joining the battle between Scorponok's Decepticons and Ratbat's Decepticons (with Cutthroat getting his arm blown off by Buzzsaw) before uniting with them to decimate the Earthbound Autobots. However this was all a ruse by Starscream to seize the power of the Underbase, and in the subsequent battle the Terrorcons were among the scores of Transformers deactivated by Starscream's power. They were not seen again in the US comic.
Terrorcon leader Hun-Grr would gain mild prominence in the Marvel UK stories set after the Transformers movie, starting with the end of Legacy Of Unicron where he & Soundwave, who would assume Decepticon leadership, took it upon themselves to take control and order a retreat when the Decepticon army was abandoned by Cyclonus & Scourge. In Space Pirates, he was part of the group of key Decepticon generals Soundwave was briefing on the planned attack on Autobase (before the Quintesson ambush). Blot would have a brief earlier appearance in the Legacy of Unicron arc hiring Death's Head to kill Rodimus Prime on behalf of Shockwave.
The whole Terrorcon team were the primary villains of the Time Wars prologue in #199, guarding and operating a device that was to leech Earth's energy until the Autobots stopped them; the team goofed off to rampage through a human city until Hun-Grr ordered them to return to work. Seeking revenge for the defeat, Soundwave and the Terrorcons went to Autobot City Earth; discovering they'd timejumped back to 1989, the Terrorcons wanted to go after them and Soundwave complied in order to maintain favour with the troops. They had little involvement in the Time War itself, joining the Autobot-Decepticon alliance initially before returning back to 2009 after seeing how poorly the alliance fared against Galvatron and Megatron.
[edit] Dreamwave Productions
In Dreamwave's re-imagining of the Transformers universe Hun-Grrr appeared in the second War Within series as part of Starscream's Predacon faction.
[edit] Devil's Due Publishing
In the third G.I. Joe vs the Transformers crossover from Devil's Due Publishing the Terrorcons are seen as part of the Decepticon forces being unified by Serpent O.R., almost coming to blows with the Predacons. Initially unwilling to serve someone so small, the Terrorcons are convinced by Serpent O.R.'s memories of Megatron. They are subsequently seen during the Decepticon attack on the Autobot Capital City. After the final battle between the Cobra Commander controlled Serpent O.R. and the Autobots, Hun-Grrr determined to kill Optimus Prime for good, but was killed by a G.I. Joe vehicle.
[edit] IDW Publishing
The Terrorcons made their first IDW Publishing appearance in The Transformers: Spotlight issue on Sixshot. A group of psychopathic Transformers who idolized Sixshot, attempting to cause enough mayhem to impress him, the Terrorcons were dispatched to Muma-Obscura on a fact-finding mission. However, they were captured by the Reapers, a group of former beings of destruction like Sixshot who now aspired to a higher purpose by wiping out warlike races and war itself. When Sixshot, trying to cling on to some form of purpose, journeyed to Muma-Obscura to find out what had happened to them, he fought the Reapers to a stalemate, so they offered Sixshot a chance to join them in their quest to wipe war from the universe. Their condition to prove his loyalty was to kill the Terrorcons, much to their horror. Sixshot seemed to accept, but instead blasted all around them, and departed with them. In the issue, Sixshot implies that the group gave themselves the name of Terrorcons, rather than it being any sort of official designation.
Hun-grrr and Blot would also appear in the The Transformers: Megatron Origin miniseries. In issue 4, Blot is seen firing a weapon while at the same time using the arm of his alt mode to rip a city guard's arm off. Hun-grrr also appeared as one of Megatron's gladiators in the second issue. Hun-Grr would appear several more times among Megatron's troops as the story progresses.
[edit] Transformers: Energon
The Terrorcon name returned in the Transformers: Energon series. These Terrorcons, however, are Energon-eating minions of Unicron. Among the Terrorcons are:
- Scorponok (Megazarak)
- Battle Ravage (Command Jaguar)
- Divebomb (Shadowhawk)
- Cruellock (Dinobot)
- Insecticon (Chrome Horn)
- Doom-Lock - Repaint of Cruellock.
[edit] Animated series
Instead of being the name of a sub-group of Decepticons, the Energon Terrorcons were a faction unto themselves. Their origins lay in the attack on planet Q by Unicron. Although the Grand Chamberlain of the alien world, Scorponok, sacrificed his life when he detonated the planet's core to stop the attack of Unicron the planet was still obliterated, damaging Unicron and driving him to dormancy. The spark of the planet's ruler, later to be known as Alpha Q, continued to exist within the dormant Unicron, and set about forming a plan to recreate his homeworld and other worlds that had been consumed by Unicron, using energon. From Unicron, he recreated Planet Q's armies as the Terrorcons, and resurrected Scorponok (not the original Grand Chamberlain, but a wandering Decepticon spark implanted in Scorponok's body) to lead them. All went well for the Terrorcons, even convincing several rogue Decepticons (such as Tidal Wave) to fight with them - until the resurrection of Megatron, who forced Scorponok into servitude. Megatron would take control of the Terrorcons after this, using them as cannon fodder in his assaults. It is worth noting here that, with the exception of Scorponok, none of the Terrorcons had any personality and were portrayed as mindless drones who achieved their objectives by weight of numbers.
All Terrorcon drones are voiced by Trevor Devall.
[edit] Dreamwave Productions
The origin of the Terrorcons in the accompanying Dreamwave comics was much simpler - they were a group of rogue Decepticons, unhappy with the Autobot/Decepticon peace which had fallen over Cybertron ten years after Unicron's attack in the comic continuity. Here the Terrorcons were individuals with personalities; in this continuity Tidal Wave was also a Terrorcon right from the beginning, and both Sharkticon and Slugslinger were also affiliated with them. Somehow linking up with Unicron and Alpha Q, a scientist working for the Chaos-Bringer, a deal was struck. He would enhance them with Unicronian technology and allow them to annihilate their enemies in return for their harvesting enough energon to repower Unicron fully. After (supposedly) disposing of Starscream, the Terrorcons journeyed to Earth in search of Energon - with Scorponok planning to take a fair amount of it for himself. After battling the Autobots they were teleported away by Unicron and supplemented by a new ability - making mindless clones of themselves (similar to the Generation One Insecticons). They invaded Earth in their thousands, attacking Toronto, Moscow, Los Angeles and Tokyo. The earthbound Autobots were about to be overwhelmed when help arrived from the most unlikely source of all - Megatron, who had been resurrected in a new body by Optimus Prime inside Unicron in return for stopping the Terrorcon invasion. Surprisingly keeping his end of the bargain, Megatron buzzsawed through the assorted Terrorcon clones, driving them from the cities they had attacked, before catching up with Scorponok in the Canadian Yukon. Scorponok proved more of a challenge however and the two Unicron-enhanced warriors were well matched. After seemingly burying Megatron under a hill, Scorponok was killed as he was stabbed in the back by Megatron's energon blade.
Any further tales of the Terrorcons would remain untold, as the Energon comic series would end with Megatron's defeat of Scorponok.
[edit] Transformers: Universe
The Terrorcons Insecticon and Doom-Lock were repackaged as Universe toys in late 2005.
Cruellock was repackaged as a Universe toy in 2006.
[edit] Transformers: Cybertron
In Transformers: Cybertron the character of Scrapmetal is described as a Terrorcon. The Transformers: Energon character of Scorponok returned as Dark Scorponok.
Also, in the episodes 'Retreat' and 'Assault' in the series, Starscream commands a horde of Transformers, referred to by Optimus Prime as "Terrorcons". However, these Terrorcons are given no specific character, appearing as generic Transformer bodies.
