Landshark (G1)

Landshark is an Autobot from the Wings Universe portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.

We also would have accepted "Wise Ass".

Landshark puts all those stereotypes of old ornery, irritated mechs to rest. Sure, compared to the rest of his team, he's the oldest, but he's also by far the most irreverent. Not even the most serious of dire situations can stop him from cracking jokes. (The frightening amount of weaponry he carries around dissuades his peers from telling him he's just not all that funny.)

His piloting skills are legend among the Elite Guard. So legendary, in fact, that (so Over-Run claims, anyway) there's a crater in the runway of Space Port Bravo named after him.

He doesn't know what a shark is, but if you confuse him for Landmine, he'll kick your skidplate.^[1]

Fiction

Wings Universe

Landshark mans the Snark controls.

Before the war, Landshark was the pilot of the Eight Track under the command of Thunder Clash. Landshark and Flak played mentor to a young "protie" named Kup, though Landshark's lessons were a lot less practical than Flak's. After a solar cycle of scanning remote star systems, the Eight Track received a priority signal from Autobot High Command! Back home, the Decepticons had rallied around a new leader, and what once was a manageable group had suddenly become an army. Someone, possibly these Decepticons, shot down a freight hauler, the Van De Graaff, over the planet Beta-Nine, and its precious cargo could not fall into enemy hands. Landshark and the others were ordered to retrieve the cargo and return it to Cybertron.

The Eight Track was shot out of Beta-Nine's orbit by a Decepticon starship, so Landshark did his best to land the ship. Despite Landshark's reputation as a great pilot who could land a ship in any condition, the Eight Track crashed hard in a swamp. Nothing was hurt, save Landshark's morale. He expressed doubts over the mission they'd received, but Thunder Clash told him to put up and shut up. They were Autobots, and they had an important job, no matter the risk.

There's the money shot.

The Decepticons were instantly upon them, and Kup was immediately separated from the rest. Landshark and Flak were ordered to divert the Decepticons away from the Van De Graaff, and so they headed deep into the jungle surrounding the swamp. Between the two of them, they were able to defeat Leozack and Hooligan.

Ultimately, the cargo was retrieved by Thunder Clash and Kup and returned to Cybertron when a rescue ship came for them all. For their bravery, Magnum of Autobot High Command assigned Landshark and the others to a new unit, the Elite Guard, which had been established to counter the Decepticons in the Civil War that had just began. Wings of Honor

Ten years later, Landshark was "helping" Kup move some boxes around by standing around telling him to hurry up. The Coming Storm: Part 1 At some point after that, Landshark found himself and his squadmates fighting a horde of Virulent Clones alongside Metalhawk's squad. When Metalhawk called to Over-Run for aerial support, Landshark hoped to see the two "upgrades" show off their flying. But Over-Run instead gave "Sharkie" a demonstration of his personal remotely-controlled attack helicopter.

The two squads then relaxed for a bit, until a call bleeped over Thunder Clash's comm, causing Kup to flail in surprise. Landshark told Kup that he really needed to learn to relax, until Thunder Clash told him to quiet down, as the call was Magnum informing them that Metalhawk's squad had to ferry Thunder Clash's squad to Space Port Bravo straightaway. Metalhawk gave Thunder Clash a friendly teasing about Landshark constantly crashing the Eight Track, to which Landshark protested that last time around, the culprit had been Kup's shriek bat.

As the two squads loaded their gear onto the Hawk's Claw, Landshark asked to borrow Over-Run's helicopter to help deal with the buzz flies at their next stop. Over-Run acquiesced, but put his foot down on letting him pilot the Hawk's Claw. Landshark wormed his way into the pilot's seat anyway, though not without receiving a dig from Over-Run about his landing skills.

The two squads eventually reached the spaceport and said their goodbyes as Thunder Clash's squad went inside. Metalhawk's squad later learned that their compatriots had been given the Beast With Wings, a starship so sturdy that Magnum hoped even Landshark's landing skills would be hard-pressed to wreck it. The Coming Storm: Part 2

"You guys think I'm some sort of a joke!"
"This isn't disproving the theory."

In the aftermath of Bruticus's attack on the Elite Guard HQ, the Beast With Wings neared the landing strip, but Landshark reported that he couldn't raise anyone on the ground (probably because Bruticus had pretty much killed them all). The Coming Storm: Part 6 The remaining members of the Elite Guard gathered with Magnum at the Autobot High Council Citadel to show the council the Guard was still functional in some way, only to find the council appointing Optimus Prime as the leader of a new Autobot military. Battle Lines, Part 1 Magnum subsequently led the team out to find Deathsaurus's base, stopping off at the Auxiliary Weapons Locker to pick up more weapons and troops. Battle Lines, Part 2

They searched for the Decepticon base, but first found Side Burn, whom Landshark was less than enthused to see. They were subsequently attacked by Deathsaurus's troops including Starscream, the Combaticons and Deathsaurus himself. Landshark grappled with Onslaught, though his foe seemed more intent on taunting Thunder Clash, much to Landshark's annoyance. Onslaught slammed him bodily to the ground before the Combaticons united... and were promptly blasted by a newcomer. Battle Lines, Part 3 As the battle continued to rage, a Seeker blasted Landshark's crane arm, and he complained that his alternate mode would look "doofy" as a result. Following the fight, he hung around with Kup and Side Burn. Battle Lines, Part 4

As Cybertron's energy woes worsened, Landshark, among like-minded Transformers, tired of the war and left for Paradron. Battle Lines, Part 6

Kre-O comic

Landshark warned Sentinel Prime and Obsidian about the arrival of Earth's five most wanted criminals, adding that there was a lot more than five. He celebrated when the criminals were sent fleeing. The Brick List: Earth's Most Wanted

Toys

Timelines

"Candy-gram. Candy-gram. Candy-gram."

• Wings of Honor (BotCon 2009 box set)
  • Accessories: Trailer/battle station/backpack & gauntlets, missile

A redeco of Energon Ultra-sized Landmine, Timelines Landshark transforms into a green, orange, and silver Cybertronic half-track battlefield recovery vehicle. The front of the vehicle features a large plow while the rear has a rotating crane with a working winch, accompanied by a spring-loaded missile launcher. The front half of the vehicle can separate from the tracked portion as a smaller truck cab, and can transform into the standard robot. The tracked portion can then be reconfigured into a mini battle station that Landshark's robot mode can operate. Most of the crane is detachable, possibly for safety reasons, as it doesn't appear to attach anywhere else.

In robot mode, Landshark has no weapons, but his standard 5 mm fists can hold any Energon weapons or other weapons sporting a compatible peg system. In the dead center of his chest is his spark crystal, over which an energon star can be attached. Landshark combines with the "trailer" rear half of his vehicle, forming his brute mode. The tracks, with their flip-out digger claws, mount on his arms, while the remaining portion forms a weapons backpack. The electronics were gutted for this release.

Landshark is part of the BotCon 2009-exclusive box set, coming with Kup, Thunder Clash, Flak, and Scourge.

The mold was also redecoed into Energon: The Powerlinx Battles Landquake.

• More information on Landshark at TFU.info

Kre-O

Skywarp pulled his helmet down and he had to cut windows to see.

• Kreon Landshark (Kreon Souvenir Figure Set, 2014)
  • Accessories: Small pistol

"Kreon Landshark" is based on the BotCon 2009 Landshark figure, transforming into a half-track battlefield recovery vehicle. He uses the Ratchet helmet, with the crest repurposed as Landshark's visor.

He was only available as part of a BotCon 2014 Kre-O six-pack, including Breakdown, Fractyl, Gigatron, Rattrap, and Shattered Glass Rodimus.

• More information on Landshark at TFU.info

Notes

• Landshark probably won't be played by Chevy Chase, although Fun Publications staffer Rik Alvarez has noted that Chevy did influence the character.
• HELLLLLLLLLLP!!!! HEEEE-MAN!!!!
• Landshark's biography mentions his battle with a Narliphant, a creature from the Rock Lords toy line.
• According to Pete Sinclair, Landshark loves Saturday Night Live.
• Stock photos of Kreon Landshark consistently show the vehicle mode facing backwards; only the pack-in flier–which uses concept images rather than the final product–shows him facing forward.
  • Said concept image also shows Landshark with the large square-barrel rifle rather than the small pistol.

References