Bludgeon (Cybertron)

Bludgeon is a Combatronian Transformer from the Unicron Trilogy continuity family.

Bludgeon is one of the ancient masters from whom Backstop, during his journey through the galaxy in search of the meaning of life, learned the secrets of martial arts and the teachings of the wise.^[1] He is also quite the music lover.

Fiction

Ask Vector Prime

Bludgeon was one of the many idealistic young recruits tasked to settle Combatron. He was well-liked for his sense of humor and enthusiastic and off-color singing, and in fact enlisted due to the ancient ballads of the poet N.R.G.. Things changed when King Atlas disappeared; Combatron was plunged into an endless series of wars. Bludgeon saw little difference between the various factions and plunged into energonism. Often could he be found inebriated in a bar, singing off-key renditions of ancient epics. After a few hundred years, he got sick of even this indolence and stowed away on one of the last freighters off Combatron. They promptly found him and dumped him at the port planet of Azure.

There, his life changed. The elderly martial artist Banzai-Tron discovered him and convinced him to clean up his life. He relearned discipline, and eventually learned all Banzai-Tron had to teach. Hungry for knowledge, he made frequent excursions to other planets to learn their techniques. He married his master's crystalocution style with these alien teachings to found the style of metallikato. When Azure became less welcoming, they left, founding dojos all over the galaxy.

A million stellar cycles later, Banzai-Tron was nearly ready to rejoin the Allspark, leaving his dojo on Klo in Bludgeon's hands. Bludgeon's master would get one last student, the travelling Animatronian Backstop. Banzai-Tron expired peacefully, and Backstop left Bludgeon to his grief.

Much later, Backstop convinced the ship he was travelling on, the Hyperborea to establish a space bridge outpost in Klo's sector. Bludgeon was himself approaching the end of his time, but news of the peace on Cybertron buoyed him. He returned to Cybertron after millions of years and rejoiced at hearing for the first time new Cybertronian music. He founded a Cyber-Ninja Dojo, taking on a final generation of students. When he passed, a beautiful dirge was sung in his honor. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/09/29

Notes

• Artist Don Figueroa submitted a concept for a Unicron Trilogy Bludgeon toy way back during the development of the Energon or Cybertron toylines. Obviously, the concept wasn't put into production as a toy at the time, so Figueroa used it as inspiration for his IDW Publishing Stormbringer rendition of Generation 1 Bludgeon. However, Hasbro evidently resurrected the concept for the Universe (as mentioned by Hasbro at BotCon 2009) and then the Revenge of the Fallen lines, where it was finally released as that universe's Bludgeon. Figueroa notes that his contribution on this toy is very small, as his work on it ended when he submitted the concept to Hasbro way back when.

References

1. ↑ Backstop's Cyber Key Code bio