Banzai-Tron (G1)
From Transformers Wiki
| The name or term "Banzai-Tron" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Banzai-Tron (disambiguation). |
- Banzai-Tron is a Decepticon from the Generation 1 continuity family.
Banzai-Tron (aka Banzaitron) is an entrepreneurial martial artist. Being a master of Crystalocution, Banzai-Tron can dismantle an opponent in seconds, only to sell the scrap later. Being very practical, he doesn't believe in the spiritual aspects of his martial arts background. Besides, the idea of a higher power would cramp the arrogant Banzai-Tron's style.
His Action Master partner is Razor-Sharp.
Contents |
Fiction
Dreamwave Generation One continuity
Banzai-Tron faced off against Bludgeon in presumably training or a tournament. This moment was recorded into Vector Sigma. More than Meets the Eye #8
2005 IDW continuity
- First appearance: Spotlight: Hot Rod
Banzaitron [sic] was the director of the Decepticon Secret Service, possessing a good deal of autonomy from Megatron in how his organization served the cause. Spotlight: Hot Rod He kept files on every Decepticon that ever existed, living or dead—files that were often referenced by the infamous Tarn of the D.J.D. Who's Afraid of the DJD? Banzaitron acted as the handler for Dealer, an unscrupulous Autobot who turned mercenary, selling secrets and services to the Decepticons for profit. Banzaitron attempted to acquire a legendary oracle called "the Magnificence" with Dealer's help, but the operation failed. Spotlight: Hot Rod
Dealer's cover ultimately remained intact, however, and he maintained contact with Banzaitron, selling him bits of information such as the existence of Transformer gestalt warriors discovered by the Autobots. With "Doubledealer's" information, Banzaitron tracked them to the penitentiary on Garrus-9 and staged a full scale assault on the Autobot base to acquire this revolutionary technology. After an opening mass bombardment, Banzaitron sent the Combaticons down in a dropship, and his soldiers successfully pulled the six Monstructor component robots out of Garrus-9 using an orbital pick-up. Spotlight: Arcee
Banzaitron and his Decepticons only made it as far as the Orcibe Cluster, where their captives were reactivated by parties unknown, allowing them to combine, decimate Banzaitron's team, and escape. The damaged Banzaitron was found by Arcee, with whom he formed an alliance. Spotlight: Hardhead Arcee joined him and his group in tackling Monstructor... but Arcee was convinced by Skram to give up that fight and go hunt down her creator, leaving Banzaitron and company to fend for themselves. Spotlight: Sideswipe
Wings Universe
A mercenary by trade, Banzai-Tron signed a long-term contract with Megatron's Decepticon forces early in the war. Banzai-Tron's Wings of Honor profile
Banzai-Tron and his crew of experimental Skyraider warriors followed the Autobot ship Eight Track to the planet Beta-Nine, where he hoped to beat them to a mysterious cargo that had crashed there aboard the Van De Graaff. When the Autobot ship's youngest member was separated from the rest, he leapt out at him from beneath the swampy waters, missiles blazing. He ordered Hellbat to hypnotize the young Autobot, but interference from a native swamp monster distracted him long enough to allow their prey to escape. Banzai-Tron pursued in boat mode.
After the Autobot left the Van De Graaff with the cargo, Banzai-Tron again cornered the Autobot. Despite Skyquake's warnings, Banzai-Tron accepted a canister from the Autobot, only to quickly find that it was a decoy. A hand weapon set to "overload" was inside, and it exploded in his face. Banzai-Tron was defeated and captured. Wings of Honor
Beast Wars: Uprising
In the era of the Builders, Banzai-Tron was hardwired into the trunk of his fellow Decepticon Tidal Wave, who in turn was mode-locked in his carrier mode as the head of the Builder's fleet. The Resistance's advance on Iacon targeted the Yuss Naval Batteries on the Hydrax Plateau, guarding the tributaries up to the shores of Iacon itself. When the Resistance turned the Yuss guns on their Iacon-side counterparts, Banzai-Tron and his fleet were prepared to repel the Resistance ships in naval warfare.
Banzai-Tron's initial thrust was to allow the Resistance to close in while attacking them from below with subsea Micromaster forces. Captain Scylla of the Resistance anticipated his maneuver, however, fortifying the bottom force field defenses of her fleet. Banzai-Tron expected the Resistance to break formation once struck from below, but they held together until the subsea forces were committed, then unleashed their own Beast Mode enhanced protoformers. The more maneuverable Resistance forces shredded the entire subsea navy of the Builders, leaving Banzai-Tron's surface forces completely vulnerable to the pincer maneuver he had allowed Scylla to initiate as a lure.
Scylla and the Broadside drove a wedge between Banzai-Tron's forces. Half the functioning naval vessels were destroyed, and Banzai-Tron's remaining fleet had to defend against both surface and subsea barrages. Recognizing that he could not win the battle, Banzai-Tron resolved himself to destroying as much of the enemy as possible. He ordered the Tidal Wave on a collision course with the Broadside. The Resistance turned their guns against the flagship, but its momentum became unstoppable. The Broadside's reactor went critical on impact, obliterating everyone and everything still aboard the two vessels. Derailment
Games
Transformers Legends
Banzai-Tron was part of a squad of Decepticons led by Thunderwing. They attacked and successfully conquered a Sun-Farming facility run by Sideswipe. Revelation
Toys
The Transformers
- Banzai-Tron with Razor-Sharp (Action Master, 1990)
- Accessories: "Photon neutralizer" rifle, "Razor-Sharp" partner
- Known designers: Masakatsu Saito (concept artist)
- Part of the third assortment of individually-carded Action Masters, released in the seventh and final year of The Transformers in the US, Banzai-Tron is a non-transforming action figure of a robotic samurai; unlike the other Action Masters, he does not have any noticeable signs of an alternate mode. His construction is broadly similar to that used by the G.I. Joe figures of the time, having a swivel neck, shoulders and knees, plus ball-jointed hips attached via a steel rod internally secured by a rubber "o-ring". His hands have standard 3 mm holes which allow him to hold any other accessory in the Action Master line, plus his feet have holes in the bottom to secure him to larger vehicles. On top of that, the hole in his back is compatible with 5 mm posts.
- Thanks to the peg on the butt-end of his rifle, he is able to hold his bayoneted gun as a sword.
- He comes with his transforming partner Razor-Sharp, who combines with Banzai-Tron's "photon neutralizer" rifle to transform into a "semi-automatic rifle that shoots plasma energy projectiles".
Timelines
- Banzai-Tron / Skyquake (Multi-pack, 2009)
- Accessories: 4 missiles
- Timelines Banzai-Tron is a redeco of Energon Mirage, transforming into a sleek assault speedboat with multiple spring-loaded missile launchers, as well as fold-out wings for his "Hyper Mode". His transformation is fairly complex for its time, and as a side effect he ends up with some obnoxiously large vehicle mode shell kibble. Some bad design choices and excessively tight knee joints means his lower legs often detach from the upper thighs whenever one tries to bend his knees. "To the victor go the profits," his original Tech-Spec quote, is written in Cybertronian letters on the sides of his hull.
- Banzai-Tron was part of an at-show-only BotCon 2009 bagged souvenir set with Skyquake, limited to 1500 sets. As usual for BotCon releases, Banzai-Tron lacks Mirage's original electronics.
- This mold was also used to make Energon Dreadwing.
Transformers (2010)
- Decepticon Banzaitron (Voyager Class, 2010)
- Accessories: Katana, tanto/cannon-barrel
- Known designers: Andrew Scribner (deco artist)
- Hunt for the Decepticons Banzaitron is a dark blue, neon green, and lavender redeco of Revenge of the Fallen Voyager Class Bludgeon, and transforms from a skeletal samurai robot into a black and green Japanese Type 90 tank. Banzaitron features a flexible plastic sword which is made out of a portion of the barrel of the tank's main gun, as well as a smaller dagger. The dagger can be stored in a sheath which is revealed from inside the tank turret, and both blades can be slotted in holes provided on the robot mode's left hip guard. Additionally, the dagger's handle can fit in the base of the sword's handle, forming a double-bladed weapon. He has Mech Alive gimmicks in his thighs and turret: Sculpted cylinders in his thighs rotate whenever his lower legs are rotated, and that pulling his turret open makes a green sculpted "disc" at the center rotate while a scabbard for the tantō hinges over to the side and props itself up for use.
- The vehicle mode is one of the very few Transformer tank toys with rubber components to its treads. Portions of the tread links can unlock, allowing them to hang from the robot mode, while the wheels of the treads are integrated separately into the robot mode form itself. The treads still do not function realistically; small plastic wheels on the underside of the treads help the tank mode roll, as is standard with nearly all Transformer tank toys.
- This mold was retooled into Timelines Gigatron and Generations Megatron.
Alternity
- Banzai Tron [Cristallo Black] (2012)
- ID number: A-04B
- Alternity Banzai Tron[sic] is a redeco of Skywarp, transforming into a licensed 1:32 scale Mitsuoka Orochi with die-cast metal parts and rubber tires, as well as an opening hood, trunk and doors.
- In car mode, small wings are supposed to be able to flip out from under Banzai-Tron's rear wheels, giving him the appearance of a flying car. Unfortunately, this gimmick suffers from a rather nasty design flaw: there is simply not enough clearance under the car for the wheels to be able to pass and hinge through, and attempting to do so will result in the plastic reinforcement struts underneath deforming the rims and chipping the tires. His door panels also tend to detach from their ball joints very easily.
- He was sold as a Toy Hobby Market exclusive.
- This mold was also used to make Alternity Thundercracker, while the original version of it was used by Alternity Starscream.
Merchandise
Transformers Character Card
- Released as part of the third wave of the e-HOBBY exclusive Transformers Character Card series, this pair of holographic trading cards depict super-deformed art of "Meister" in his Action Master body and Banzai-Tron along with character profiles and tech specs.
ULTIMATES!
- Banzai-Tron (ULTIMATES!, 2022)
- Accessories: photon neutralizer, closed fists (L & R), gripping hands (L & R), right open hand, left martial arts hand
- Part of the first wave of Transformers ULTIMATES! from Super7, Banzai-Tron is a 7-inch-tall action figure based on the original Action Master toy. Despite his retro look, he has way more articulation than the original, including multi-directional joints at the neck, shoulders, wrists, hips, and ankles; plus swivel biceps, elbows, knees, and a bit of ab crunch. His hands pop out at the wrists so they can be replaced with his additional spare hands in different poses, including the ninja-like positioning seen in Hirofumi Ichikawa's Transformers Chronicles doujinshi (talk about a deep cut!).
- He also comes with his Action Master partner Razor-Sharp.
- Preorders for Banzai-Tron (and the rest of Wave 1) opened on January 29 2021, and closed on February 28. The wave was originally scheduled for shipping in winter of that year, but due to ongoing worldwide shipping delays, did not reach US shores until May of 2022, properly reaching buyers in early June.
Flame Toys
- Banzaitron (?)
- To be released as part of the Furai Model line by Flame Toys.
Notes
- Many promotional catalogs (and even his own Power Plans) consistently use a slightly different version of Banzai-Tron. It is notable for minor color variations, and spikes on his shoulders and helmet. Odder still, "Razor-Sharp" was usually depicted as the inner robot to Pretender Octopunch, but in Razor-Sharp's colors.
Foreign names
- Japanese: Banzaitron (バンザイトロン Banzaitoron)
- Upcoming toy releases
- Action Masters
- Alternity Decepticons
- Beast Wars: Uprising Decepticons
- BotCon exclusives
- Generation 1 Decepticons
- Generation 1 toy Decepticons
- IDW (2005) Decepticons
- Martial artists
- Repurposed toys
- Sea specialists
- Timelines characters
- Transformers Character Card
- ULTIMATES!
- Wings Universe Decepticons
