Personal tools

Rhinox (BW)

From Transformers Wiki

Jump to: navigation, search

Featured.png
This article is a featured article, and considered to be one of the most informative on this wiki.

The name or term "Rhinox" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Rhinox (disambiguation).
Rhinox is a Maximal from the Beast Era portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.
(thumbnail)
"I will usher in a new age of technological perfecti—er, I mean, yay, pretty flowers."

Cheetor was on the mark when he said that Rhinox was the best of them. He's a Renaissance Bot. Intelligent, massive, strong, and stalwart, there are few Maximals one could depend on more. Rhinox is of a rare breed—he's incredibly tech savvy, but mystically inclined... without coming off as a burnt-out technohippie. He's quick and decisive in a crisis, with spectacular results, but is slow and steady. He loves to sniff the flowers. A behind-the-scenes charismatic and an on-his-feet strategist, he could lead the Maximals if he wanted to, but he doesn't.

If he sounds too good to be true, it's because he just might be. At times he can be borderline obsessive and single-minded, but his strong moral center keeps it from getting out of hand. The Maximals are glad for that, because if he ever lost his ethical restraint, woe be to them. No, woe be to the galaxy.

Still, you can't help but love a bot who can fight Megatron to a standstill without breaking a sweat, yet would rather take a nap in a patch of daisies. Rhinox considers Rattrap to be his best friend, though he also has a close friendship with Optimus Primal. He appears to have some "older sibling/parental" emotions toward Airazor due to his role in bringing her online.

Rhinox's only weapons—besides his intimidating strength and brilliant mind—are his twin chainguns.

Rhinox's Spark was an integral part of the evil Vehicon General Tankor.

Make a device to extract molecular structure from an alien probe... man, I gotta be a miracle worker!

—Rhinox, "Chain of Command"

Contents

Fiction

Toy bios

Rhinox was a territorial warrior who stampeded his way through the jungle whenever Predacons drew near, crushing everything in his path. Although he was known to be courageous and cunning, what mades him stand out from other warriors was that he had never been injured. EVER. Even though he had never backed down from a fight, his triple-thick, steel-plated skin protected him from all harm, even double-barreled laser cannons (which were presumably very powerful weapons). Rhinox bio

Following the quantum surge, Rhinox found himself in a new Transmetal body, and couldn't be happier; thanks to his new vehicle mode, his new body is a lot faster then his previous one. One of his new battle moves involves pulling off wheelies on the battlefield. Furthermore, the semi-organic nature of his robot mode granted him additional fluidity and skill in combat. Transmetal Rhinox Bio

While collecting the exploded spark of Optimus Primal, Rhinox became a Metals as well. His knowledge and inner serenity were still intact. Metals Rhinox bio

Beast Wars cartoon continuity

Beast Wars cartoon

Voice actor: Richard Newman (English), Daiki Nakamura (Japanese), Yang Guang (Chinese), Alexandr Novikov (Russian, 2nd dub), Felipe di Nardo (Portuguese), Hervé Jolly (French), Maurizio Trombini (Italian), Gerhard Marcel (German), Miguel Ángel Ghigliazza (Latin American Spanish), Vicente Gisbert (Castilian Spanish), Byeong-sig Lee (Korean)
(thumbnail)
The new Donkey Kong Country game went in a bit of a weird direction.

Rhinox was a crewmember of the exploration ship Axalon when captain Optimus Primal got word that the Predacon criminal Megatron had stolen the Golden Disk and a ship with transwarp capabilities. The Axalon was the closest vessel that also possessed a transwarp drive, so Rhinox's ship was sent to engage them. After following the Predacons through a transwarp portal and appearing above a mysterious planet, both ships were damaged in the ensuing space battle, and before both ships crashed into the planet's surface below, the stasis pods carrying the rest of Rhinox's crew were ejected into orbit.

The planet was rich with energon—so much so that prolonged exposure would short out their bodies, so the Maximals and Predacons were forced to take organic forms from the local creatures. Rhinox took the form of a rhinoceros. He soon took part in a rescue mission to retrieve Cheetor after the young Maximal ran into the Predacons, and forced Rattrap to give Primal cover. Beast Wars (Part 1)

During Optimus's battle with Dinobot, Rhinox pulled the pair to safety after they almost plunged off a ledge. The Maximals subsequently were forced to tail the Predacons, and when Dinobot almost accidentally slagged Rhinox, it caused the ex-Predacon and Rattrap to come to blows. The two factions eventually reached the mountain topped with energon and fought over it while in their beast modes, until Megatron ended up destroying it. Beast Wars (Part 2)

(thumbnail)
"Bah, stuck in the base again! To get more scenes, I need some sort of weapon... a really impressive one...

Being the handyman of the crew, Rhinox quickly developed a new comlink to overcome the problems with energon interference. After Cheetor got into trouble while testing it, Rattrap gave the cat a hard time, causing him to race off, and Rhinox pointed out that Cheetor was about to do something stupid. He ordered Rattrap to go after Cheetor. The Web Rhinox's next developments were some energon monitoring devices, though Optimus initially scrubbed the mission to install them. After Cheetor went anyway, and a series of events almost destroyed the Maximal base, Rhinox and the other Maximals thanked Cheetor for preventing the explosion. Equal Measures

(thumbnail)
"-OF DOOM."

Rhinox had to dive for safety during a battle at the Standing Stones, after Terrorsaur blew up the energon cache at its center. After Primal went missing, Rhinox had to break up a fight between Dinobot and Rattrap over who would lead, insisting on a secret ballot. The ballot ended in a deadlock, but they were then contacted by Primal, who'd become trapped in an alien probe at the Standing Stones. Rattrap was placed in charge during the bossmonkey's absence, and his command to Rhinox was to build a device to extract Optimus from the probe. Whether or not this device would actually have worked is unknown, as shortly before he had a chance to use it, Rhinox was ambushed by Waspinator, but turned the tables by blasting the Predacon with his chaingun. Waspinator stumbled into a stone, and Rhinox realized the whole structure was a mechanism as it caused the probe to disgorge Optimus Primal. Chain of Command

When Cheetor reported that Terrorsaur had found a flying mountain, Rhinox theorized that the high concentration of energon on the top of it might be responsible for the strange gravity-warping effect. Power Surge After Primal was taken out by a Predacon sneak attack, Rhinox, Cheetor and Rattrap headed for a crashed stasis pod. The trio were delayed further, and beaten to the pod, however the protoform had already been awakened as Tigatron. Fallen Comrades Like the other Maximals, Rhinox was shocked by Rattrap's apparent defection to the Predacons, but as it turned out, it was a ploy to discover how the Predacons had been spying on the Maximals, and they were soon rescuing their comrade. Double Jeopardy

Rhinox later developed Sentinel, a hi-tech security system for the Axalon, which unfortunately went berserk when its control panel was damaged in a struggle between Dinobot and Rattrap, forcing the Maximals from their own base. Rattrap however, was able to infiltrate the now-heavily guarded ship and deactivate Sentinel, which was then repaired and made fully-functional by Rhinox. A Better Mousetrap The Maximals were forced to restrain Optimus after he was infected by a rage virus in a cyberbee developed by Scorponok and Rhinox was unable to work out how to remove it. After Primal undertook a one-bot assault on the Predacon base, Rhinox took part in the mission to rescue their leader, laying down suppressing fire to allow Cheetor to slip inside the base. Gorilla Warfare

Victory Rhinox sit down.jpg

He was unsuccessful in contacting a Maximal temporal probe which flew past the planet. Though he blamed himself, he and the other Maximals rallied themselves to build a communications array on Predacon soil. Unfortunately while they were doing so, Tarantulas's latest invention the Transformation Lock Lens, prevented them from sending the signal before Megatron destroyed the array. The Probe When a Predacon plan to fake a Maximal victory was exposed, Rhinox was dismayed when Optimus and Cheetor insisted on leaving the Axalon with liftoff imminent in order to rescue Dinobot. Tigatron attempted to go as well, leading Rhinox to order him to sit down. Liftoff eventually occurred without Primal, however Megatron got on board and damaged the controls. Rhinox attempted to control the ship and, with some assistance from Optimus, managed to get it down at least in one piece, though it would never fly again. Victory

(thumbnail)
Evil has silver detailing. Who knew?

Some time later, when the Maximals found themselves cornered by a Predacon ambush, Rhinox was able to take out their attackers with a carefully aimed spray of chaingun fire. Megatron was so impressed that he decided to make Rhinox a member of his merry band of thieves, by force. Rhinox was captured by Tarantulas and then reprogrammed into a Predacon by a device designed by Megatron called a "Transmuter". However, the newly malevolent Rhinox proved to be too much for Megatron to handle, as Optimus Primal had correctly predicted. He quickly dispatched most of the Predacons, working his way up to Megatron himself in an attempted coup. Rhinox very nearly succeeded, but fortunately, Megatron was able to revert him back into a Maximal using the Transmuter, and Rhinox escaped to rejoin his Maximal comrades and smell some flowers. Dark Designs

The Maximals arrived back at base after being sent on wild goose chases by Megatron's clone of Dinobot, only to find that the clone had already been dealt with by the real Dinobot. Double Dinobot Later, a stasis pod crash landed in a barren wasteland. Rhinox intercepted it and, with the help of Cheetor's locking chip, managed to save the protoform Maximal's spark. The protoform then became Airazor, who repaid the favor by saving the weakened Rhinox from Terrorsaur. The Spark

While Rhinox was communicating long distance with Tigatron, his fellow Maximal was attacked by Waspinator and Terrorsaur, leading the Maximals to discover the existence of a flying island. The Trigger, Part 1 Blackarachnia took control of the island and piloted it towards the Axalon, forcing Rhinox, Cheetor and Dinobot to evacuate the base. The only thing Rhinox took with him was a potted plant. When the island's destruction sent a beam into space, the Maximals wondered who received the signal and what they'd do next. The Trigger, Part 2

At one point, a magna pulse triggered by Tarantulas knocked out the power in the Maximal base, and Optimus Primal left Rhinox struggling to get things working again. Spider's Game The loss of the Axalon's rectifier coil forced the Maximals to stay in their beast forms at all times, which resulted in their beast instincts taking over and sending them off to wander the jungle. It was only with Tigatron's help that they deleted the programming blocks separating their core programming, and they were able to fight the Predacons who were hunting them. Call of the Wild

(thumbnail)
Rhinox's Yoga phase

When Scorponok detonated a pile of energon near a group of Maximals, rendering them blind, it was Rhinox who led the group on the dangerous trek back to the Axalon, teaching them how to use their other senses. They were able to overcome the obstacles both nature and the Predacons could throw at them, and succeeded in reaching safety. Afterwards, Rhinox again went off to smell some flowers. Dark Voyage After the Maximals were ousted from their base by the Predacons assisted by a Starscream-possessed Waspinator, they attempted a ruse to get the Axalon back, resulting in Rhinox and the others mounting an assault on the Predacon base. Possession

(thumbnail)
I'm dummy thicc and the clap from my butt cheeks keeps alerting the Preds.

Later, Tarantulas infected Rhinox with an energon discharge virus, which made him expel his energon reserves via his nasal passages in bursts powerful enough to tear through the hull of the Axalon, threatening both to destroy the Maximals' base and completely drain Rhinox of energy. Rattrap and Dinobot were dispatched to acquire a countervirus, while Rhinox ate some wild bean vines to keep his strength up. When the bickering duo nearly failed in their mission, the other Maximals, including Rhinox, showed up, and the rhinoceros blew away the Predacons with a massive energon... *ahem*"derriere-based"... discharge which was caused by his ingestion of wild beans; Megatron would remember this moment as the most humiliating defeat in his entire career. Rhinox was later cured by the countervirus via a Cybertronic beer hat. The Low Road

After Megatron called a truce, Rhinox assisted "non-violently" in helping Tigatron escape after infiltrating the Predacon base to find out more information. He non-violently held up a sheet of metal for Terrorsaur to crash into, and then non-violently sat on him. Tigatron reported that the aliens were coming. Before the Storm Indeed, an alien construct appeared and, while the other Maximals were investigating it, Rhinox and Dinobot were bushwhacked in the Maximal base by Tarantulas and Blackarachnia. Other Voices, Part 1 The rest of the Maximals found their two comrades webbed to the ceiling, and placed them in CR chambers. Rhinox stirred in his chamber as he sensed Primal's impending destruction. Other Voices, Part 2

(thumbnail)
They warned us to not to take the brown acid!

Protected by the CR chamber, Rhinox avoided being upgraded into a Transmetal by the quantum surge. After recovering, he took leadership of the Maximals to forestall any bickering and sent Rattrap and Cheetor out to protect the base against Megatron. Unfortunately Inferno was already loose in the base, and managed to blast Rhinox before fighting Dinobot. Rhinox quickly recovered, throwing a badly-battered Inferno out and forcing Megatron to retreat. Aftermath Rhinox later initiated a dangerous plan to bring the recently deceased Optimus Primal back to life by using the hole in space-time caused by the destruction of the Planet Buster to astrally project his spark into the Matrix. Coming of the Fuzors (Part 1) Rhinox followed the transition left by Primal's spark and led it back to the land of the living, where it was reborn as Transmetal Optimus Primal. Primal was able to come to the aid of the Maximals right when they were on the verge of defeat. Coming of the Fuzors (Part 2)

(thumbnail)
Quick, if we graphically deglove his arm super quickly, maybe the censors won't notice.

Rhinox conducted tests on Optimus Primal to attempt to determine what the new Transmetal forms were capable of, with limited results. Tangled Web His research into the alien sites predicted that there would be one located in an area Tigatron and Airazor were patrolling, however a Predacon jamming tower prevented the Maximals from warning the pair, who were shot into space by some sort of alien planet device. While the others were off the base, Rhinox was attacked by Megatron, Blackarachnia and Inferno, who made off with the Golden Disk. After repairs, Rhinox and the other Maximals went to the alien site, only to be blasted by the alien construct that appeared. Other Visits (Part 1) The Transmetaled Maximals recovered quickly, and Silverbolt and Cheetor took Rhinox and Dinobot back to base for repairs. Rhinox was barely recovered when he was again pressed into action, attacking the alien construct which Megatron had taken over, to allow Rattrap and Tarantulas to slip inside. Other Visits (Part 2)

When Protoform X's stasis pod was discovered, Rhinox worried that its contents had survived the crash. Bad Spark Rhinox calculated that the transwarp wavefront from the Planet Buster explosion would soon be reaching Cybertron, though the good news was tempered a short time later when Dinobot perished saving a group of anthropoids from the Predacons. Code of Hero Rhinox's tests on Transmutate were not promising, and he suggested putting the creature in stasis. Silverbolt wasn't happy with the suggestion. Transmutate

(thumbnail)
"Hey Rhinox, we just found the garage door opener after all... never mind."

Continuing to track the transwarp wavefront, Rhinox and the other Maximals celebrated their impending rescue, however instead they got Predacon agent Ravage. After fighting off the Predacons, Ravage helped the Maximals storm the Darksyde and arrest Megatron. The Agenda (Part 1) With Ravage's defection, Rhinox and Rattrap found themselves under heavy assault in the Axalon. Some daring-do on Rattrap's part saved the day, but the Maximals had to chase Megatron. Rhinox was forced to ride on Primal's surfboard, much to his visible discomfort at the height. They tracked Megatron to Mount St. Hilary, where the Predacon leader had located the Ark and attempted to reach the ship first. Though Rhinox physically forced the ship's doors open, they were too late—Megatron had blasted Optimus Prime, causing a timestorm as history began to change. The Agenda (Part III)

With Blackarachnia's help, the Maximals stabilized Prime ad Rhinox stayed to supervise the repairs while the others went to defend the Axalon. His work was interrupted by Silverbolt's "situation"—Blackarachnia had been shot by Megatron during the conflict, but as Rhinox pointed out, she just needed repairs. The Axalon, on the other hand, was lost, and the Maximals were forced to set up base in the cavern housing the Ark. Optimal Situation

Rhinox would largely spend the remainder of the Beast Wars off the front lines attempting to interface Maximal and Autobot technology to bolster their defenses, to very little success. He would express doubts that help was still on the way, though it did turn up in the form of Depth Charge, who'd come looking for Rampage. Deep Metal An attempt by Rhinox to rig up Teletraan I's force field to protect the base failed, forcing the Maximals to attempt to salvage Sentinel. He later had to restrain Rattrap from trying to attack Depth Charge, who had caused the mission to fail. Changing of the Guard

(thumbnail)
You wouldn't like him when he's angry.

Analysing the cyber raptor which Primal had encountered, Rhinox reported that it was fused with Transmetal technology. Once the others had all left the base, he and Rattrap found themselves under siege from Megatron and a group of Predacons. Rhinox finally made a desperate attempt to see them off with a barrage of chaingun fire, only to be blasted backwards. Depth Charge fortunately came to the rescue and saved them both. Cutting Edge

When the Maximals thought that Cheetor had been killed, Rhinox told Primal not to give up hope, and went to get the long-range sensors online. As it turned out, his optimism was correct, as Cheetor later turned up outside the base. Feral Scream Part 1 After Cheetor was apparently spirited away overnight by a strange creature, Silverbolt and Blackarachnia went out looking, but to Rhinox's surprise, didn't find anything. Feral Scream Part 2

(thumbnail)
"Everyone, shut up! I'm finally gonna beat the first level of Mystery of Convoy!"

Rhinox scanned Blackarachnia's internals, with a view to extracting her Predacon shell program and restoring her to a Maximal state. Some time later, he and Primal discovered that she had overheard their conversation about the concept, and fled in the belief they'd force her to go through with it. Proving Grounds A huge buildup of energy on a mountain top caused alarm for the Maximals, who braced for a possible attack, but all that happened was that the top of the mountain exploded. How odd. Go with the Flow

When Blackarachnia's attempts to become a Transmetal caused her shell program to deteriorate, threatening to erase her core consciousness, Rhinox carried out a very delicate procedure to surgically remove the shell program directly. Unfortunately, certain failsafes installed by Tarantulas, combined with a Predacon attack, caused the operation to fail. Fortunately, Blackarachnia was mysteriously resurrected anyway by the Transmetal driver. Crossing the Rubicon Megatron's next gambit involved Quickstrike remote controlling Optimus Primal. Once this was achieved, the subverted Primal's first order was for Rhinox to order everyone back to base, where Quickstrike was able to knock them out and stick them in a cage. Fortunately Blackarachnia was able to free Primal and the others and they fought off Megatron, who had upgraded himself using the original Megatron's spark. Master Blaster

(thumbnail)
Couldn't they have found the booster seat the Autobots brought for Bumblebee?

Detecting an alien signature inbound to Earth, Rhinox realised that it meant that Tigatron and Airazor were coming back. Indeed, the Predacon base was soon destroyed by Tigerhawk, the emissary the Vok had created using the two Maximal sparks, though Rhinox wasn't in the mood for celebrating. Other Victories Once the situation was sorted out, the Maximals began searching for Megatron and his scattered forces. Rhinox monitored the situation from base, as the others discovered that Megatron was attempting to raise the Nemesis. He and Rattrap were overjoyed when Primal reported that Depth Charge had taken out the warship, but it turned out the news was a little too premature. Nemesis Part 1

Rhinox was ordered by Optimus Primal to execute Operation Eternity, which apparently only Primal and he knew about. The purpose of the operation was to "move the Ark" by activating its engines and taking off; little is know beyond that, because the Maximals failed when the Ark's engines proved beyond repair. However, Dinobot II downloaded emergency data to the Ark about an Autobot shuttle hidden within the Ark. Rhinox piloted the shuttle and flew it directly into the bridge of the Nemesis, taking down Megatron and causing the warship to spiral out of control and crash somewhere beyond the horizon. Thus, the Beast Wars were won. Rhinox and the other Maximals left prehistoric Earth aboard the aforementioned Autobot shuttle and began the voyage home to Cybertron. Nemesis Part 2

Beast Machines cartoon

Voice actor: Richard Newman (English), Daiki Nakamura (Japanese), Yang Guang (Chinese), Gerald Paradies (German), Bruno Bulté (French)
For further information, see: Tankor (BM)
(thumbnail)
Rhinox suffers the horrors of symbolism.

Rhinox returned to Cybertron with the surviving Maximals to discover the entire population had been replaced by mindless Vehicon drones created by Megatron. The Reformatting

Rhinox, like the other Maximals, was exposed to Megatron's virus at this point. Although the Transmetal Maximals merely reverted to their original shapes, the Maximals who were still in their original shapes were instantly paralyzed. As a result, Rhinox and Silverbolt were captured, stripped of their organic bodies and placed in the new bodies of Tankor and Jetstorm. Descent Much later on, Rhinox's mind was freed by Optimus' spark connection with him, and he watched and observed, eventually turning his back on his Maximals to go along with Megatron's cause of a purely technological, one-mind Cybertron. Apocalypse

Rhinox pretended to still be Tankor and sneaked around Megatron's ranks, reprogramming the Diagnostic Drone as his agent. He'd decided Megatron's cause was right, but it needed a different, more efficient person at the helm... someone like him. He went off to fulfill this new mission, in a highly malevolent and sadistic manner. Survivor

(thumbnail)
Optimus struggles with the "make-your-own Transformer" toy.

Rhinox went looking for the legendary Key to Vector Sigma that was supposed to turn organic life into technomatter. He found it, took control of it, and then faked his death. The Key Now on the underground and spying on both sides, he used the Diagnostic Drone to reveal the Key had been discovered, intending for Megatron to use it on himself (to eradicate his beast mode) and go insane in the process. When this didn't work, he set it up so Rattrap would find and use a catalyst program that would cause mutant plant life to erupt in Cybertropolis, scaring Megatron into arming the Tank Drones with copies of the Key... The Catalyst

TankorRhinox Spark.jpg

...only to find he no longer had remote control of the drones, and would need to trick Megatron into using them instead. By this point, he'd already been tampering with the Oracle (an interface for Vector Sigma) and used it to trick Optimus into finding the Plasma Energy Chamber that could destroy all technology. While he (wrongly) thought Primal would never use it, he knew Megatron would never take the chance! Unfortunately for him, he overplayed his hand: Megatron thought Optimus wouldn't use it either, grew suspicious with the Diagnostic Drone pushing him to strike first, and disabled it. Rhinox decided to launch an ambush assault and take out both enemy leaders while they were fighting... only to find, whoops, Megatron had programmed his generals to be incapable of shooting him. Rhinox was swiftly offlined, his plan stolen by Megatron, and then killed by plasma energy: a humiliating demise. End of the Line

Rhinox's spiritual form appeared once more with Optimus in the Matrix, bidding his friend farewell and to telling him to embrace his Spark. For his sins, he told Optimus, he himself would be remaining in the Matrix; he expressed regret for his actions. Fallout

Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity

Cloud

When Hot Rodimus and SARA of the Cloud World ended up in the 9-BW Spacetime, they spoke about the Spacetime World while an unassuming Rhinox in beast mode stood by and listened. He noted that it was interesting information and transformed into robot mode, to the shock of the two visitors. Shock Rhinox introduced himself and explained that he was a Maximal investigating a nearby energon mine. The other Maximals soon revealed themselves and Rhinox, promising not to reveal the two's true nature, allowed the Maximals to believe that they were from outer space and hunting a criminal. As they all neared the energon mine, they were ambushed by the Predacons and the two sides battled as Hot Rodimus took his leave to hunt down Shockwave. The two's battle caused an energon eruption that sent the Predacons fleeing and almost consumed the Maximals who were trying to save the local wildlife. Fortunately, SARA was able to convert the eruption into less dangerous energon crystals and the visitors returned to their proper spacetime. Wild

During a later battle with the Decepticons, Hot Rodimus thought back to his time with the Maximals, including Rhinox. TFC-A03

Beast Wars Diorama Story

After Starscream's leave from the Beast Wars, a battle broke out between the Maximals and Predacons. Optimus Primal Chapter Rhinox found himself challenged by the mysterious new Predacon Wolfang. Rhinox Chapter Wolfang Chapter Eventually, Autobots and Decepticons from another dimension joined the battle, with Optimus Prime and his troops joining the Maximals. Tigatron Chapter The combined Maximal-Autobot and Predacon-Decepticon forces eventually faced off against one other, with the Maximals and Autobots unleashing their fused energies on their foes first. Motorarm Chapter

Legends comic

Following his death as Tankor, the remorseful Rhinox's spark traveled to the Legends World, sensing that there was an alternate Rhinox there who had similar regrets and could use some counseling. Thanks to this universe's unique wish-granting "spirit power", he manifested as a ghost identical to his form on Earth. Bonus Edition Vol. EX He proceeded to go find his counterpart, introducing himself as another Rhinox. Bonus Edition Vol. EX

The two talked about their regrets as their respective Tankors, and Rhinox explained that though he'd accepted death as his penance, his alternate self was still alive and had a future during which he could change for the better. They were interrupted by the ghost of Starscream attacking the Axalon Trading Company using the body of Waspinator, prompting Rhinox to use his own ghostly form to exorcise and defeat the Decepticon in defense of Legends Rhinox's friends. He was then reunited with Rattrap, who had been sent to find him and bring him back to their own world, but said that he'd done what he came for and that his fate was to was move on to the afterlife. To his surprise, however, Legends Rhinox was a skilled roboticist and whipped up a new body for his spark to inhabit, granting him a future as well. Thus alive once more, Rhinox returned with Rattrap to post-Great Transformation Cybertron, where he was reunited with his friends. Bonus Edition Vol. EX

3H comics

Groundzero-rhinoxandfractyl.jpg

Rhinox was trying to teach Cheetor the value of peace and quiet when a firefight broke out in the Badlands. Finding the normally skittish Packrat trading heavy firepower with Inferno, Rhinox realized something was up. Although cautious at first, he listened to the Predacon geologist Fractyl's explanation that Packrat had stolen some experimental energon armor, which was slowly degenerating into the unstable anti-energon. Rhinox convinced Packrat that the respect he craved would not come from power, but from giving up power when it was necessary. After Fractyl neutralized the armor, Rhinox threw the geeky Predacon scientist a bone and pretened to run in terror from the "might of Fractyl" so that the arriving Megatron would give his underling some respect. Ground Zero

(thumbnail)
Good thing he's wearing that cushy parka.

By the time the Maximals were operating out of the Ark, Rhinox had taken it upon himself to make regular planetary sweeps with the base's scanners. After one such scan, he detected a Transwarp disruption, and a trail of chronal particles left behind by a newly arrived time-traveler. He informed Optimus Primal of his find, hoping that it was finally a means to return to their place in space-time. Rhinox and the rest of the Maximals set out to investigate the temporal trail, encountering the Predacons en route. The two factions were locked in a firefight, though the advantage lay with the Predacons. Megatron then took off to reach the time-traveller, and Rhinox insisted that Optimus go after him, while he and the other Maximals held back Megatron's troops. Though hesitant to do so, Optimus followed Rhinox's advice, and the Maximals were left behind against overwhelming odds. The Predacons eventually began to push the Maximals back towards a cliffside. As they encroached, an explosion hit Rhinox, and he was knocked offline. Paradox

Rhinox recovered just in time to watch as the newly arrived Shokaract attempted to rip Optimus's spark from his body. He helped his fellow Maximals fight back against the tyrant, but was knocked back when Shokaract threw Cheetor at him. Once Shokaract was defeated, space-time rebooted itself with the disappearance of the Dark Essence from the past, and these events were erased from Rhinox's timeline. Terminus

(thumbnail)
Stop hitting yourself! Stop hitting yourself!

When Primus gave Optimus Primal the ability to choose any Transformer, living or dead, from the Allspark to assist him in the multiversal war against Unicron, Primal chose Depthcharge and Rhinox. Depthcharge was bitter about being brought back from the dead, but Rhinox was thankful for the chance to atone for his actions as Tankor. Homecoming

During the Universe War, Rhinox built a device to counteract Unicron's attempts to abduct Transformers. Two such attempts at deflection were only partially successful, necessitating the deployment of a rescue team. Voice Actor Drama

In the final battle of the war, Rhinox defeated the Minion general Tankor, presumably redeeming his actions as his own universe's Tankor. He presumably escaped Unicron with Optimus Primal and the other Children. Revelations Part 2

Dreamwave Generation One continuity

During the Beast Wars, Rhinox designed a crawler vehicle, and sent Rattrap out into the wilderness to test it. On the way back to Cybertron after the end of the Beast Wars, Rhinox dozed off to sleep while Rattrap recalled his test run of the vehicle in a dream. Ain't No Rat

Shell Game was never published. The following would have taken place in unpublished issues.

He awoke, affected by a Transwarp agitator planted on the shuttle by a new team of Predacons hiding on Earth. This device caused him and the other Maximals aboard to act aggressively towards one-another, and Rhinox tried to force Rattrap into the ship's C.R. Chamber due to its influence. Rattrap resisted, managed to get away, and deactivated the ship's Transwarp drive. Though this restored the Maximals to their senses, it also returned them to prehistoric Earth. Shell Game #1

Transformers Legends anthology (1)

Not long after Megatron stole the spark of the original Megatron, he had Quickstrike plant a device in the Maximal base. The device magnified the Maximals' aggression, resulting in Rhinox trying to kill Blackarachnia while Silverbolt attempted to stop him. While Silverbolt failed, Optimus Primal arrived in time to pin Rhinox down, only to succumb to the device's effects himself. Primal was soon able to overcome the effect, and freed the rest of the Maximals who then fought off Megatron. A Meeting of Minds

After Tankor's death, Rhinox's spark and consciousness were cleansed and rejoined the Matrix. When Megatron was defeated by Nightscream, Rhinox saw an opportunity to redeem the fallen tyrant, and attempted to act as a spirit guide. Rhinox led Megatron through the ascending layers of Transformer afterlife, urging him to leave behind his fixation on worldly power. Megatron was briefly tempted, but his repeated returns to Cybertron convinced him that godhood was still within his reach. Tapping into the power of the Oracle, Megatron erased Rhinox's spark, killing him utterly. Singularity Ablyss

2006 IDW Beast Wars continuity

(thumbnail)
Realising that he is functionally invisible to those around him, Razorbeast takes a moment to moon Rhinox.

The 'bot that would one day call himself "Rhinox" was aboard the Axalon, along with the rest of its original crew, tasked with performing orbital scans of Cybertron. The crew's survey yielded Transmatter energy signatures coming from the head of Unicron, in orbit around the planet. Upon their approach, they detected a whole lot of activity within the satellite; several units evacuating a concealed base. The ship's crew activated their shield just in time for a Transmatter bomb to erupt out of the satellite, and the Axalon to accidentally come to meet its path. The ship avoided any damage, and the bomb was deflected away from the planet. Some Transmatter debris did reach Cybertron however, and all those touched by it were reduced to protoforms. A few of these unfortunates were later entrusted to the crew of the Axalon. Dawn of the Predacus

As Magmatron surveyed the timeline, he witnessed Rhinox standing over a stasis pod, while Cheetor and Terrorsaur battled some distance away. The Gathering #1

Rhinox stood outside the Ark as Razorbeast's chronically displaced Maximals passed by. Although Optimus Primal could vaguely sense their presence, Rhinox theorized that the sensation was just a side-effect of Primal's recent upgrades. The Gathering #3

After his (very) later death, Rhinox was reborn by the Vok and traveled the multiverse. He was supposedly fighting Unicron's chaos, but knew the Vok really wanted him to manipulate Cybertronian history; however, out of guilt for his actions as Tankor, he still helped any Cybertronian he came across. He was probably some other guy. Beast Wars Sourcebook #3

Timelines

DawnOfFuturesPast RhinoxCheetorRattrap.jpg

During the prep for the Axalon's launch, the crew spent weeks on a space station getting everything ready. Rhinox assisted with the loading process as Protoform X's stasis pod was brought on board and told Cheetor and Rattrap to quit slacking off. As they launched, the bridge crew received word from Maximal High Command about the theft of the Golden Disk.

Mere moments after receiving their mission directive, the Axalon was attacked by a small assault craft piloted by Buzzsaw and Laserbeak. Rhinox attempted some emergency repairs of their damaged systems, but they would have been destroyed if the Chromia 10 had not appeared in time to draw fire. Tragically, their rescuers were heavily damaged before Rhinox got everything back on-line in time to help. With leave from Optimus, he brought the two-mech crew's damaged bodies inside and stowed their sparks in blank protoforms to preserve them for later.

In pursuit of the Darksyde, the Axalon came under fire from the Predacon ship. Rhinox kept the ship together as they pursued the Darksyde through transwarp space and then... Dawn of Future's Past

After Airazor was reborn on Earth, Rhinox fought the Predacons during a plot to launch an orbital weapon. The launching pad was destroyed by Airazor. The Razor's Edge

Razorclaw continuity

In one splinter timeline of Primax 496.22 Alpha, minor atmospheric perturbations caused Silverbolt's stasis pod to crash on the far side of Earth, and due to his absence, Megatron slaughtered all the remaining Maximals except Tigatron and Airazor. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/08/07

Ask Vector Prime

Due to the temporal machinations of Ravage and the response by the Alternity in Primax 785.06 Alpha, a quantum duplicate of Rhinox from just after the end of the Beast Wars in Primax 496.22 Alpha was spawned. The Alternity shepherded the "shipwrecked" Primal, Rhinox, Rattrap, and Silverbolt to Viron 102.0 Beta in order to fight the similarly shipwrecked Megatron, who schemed to take over this reality's Cybertron by capturing the populace's sparks and converting their bodies into Vehicons. Guided by the Oracle, Primal's forces fought the long and arduous "Allspark Battles", eventually triumphing over Megatron's Vehicon hordes. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/09/30

A Change to the Agenda

After Megatron attacked Optimus Prime and was thrown out of the Ark when Blackarachnia activated the ship's defense systems, Rhinox and the other Maximals attempted to heal the wounded Autobot. However, Megatron was not thrown far enough and the Predacon managed to reenter the Ark and blast the Autobot leader, decisively erasing the Maximals from the timeline. A Change to the Agenda In the wildly different timeline that followed, Rhinox's life would take a very different track.

Beast Wars Metals manga

(thumbnail)
Rhinox takes his Persona 3 fandom a step too far.

Following the Quantum surge, Optimus Primal was dead and the Maximals were left scattered all over Energoa, with only Transmetal Rhinox and Rattrap holed up in the Maximal base. The Predacons were in much better condition, having also been mutated into Transmetals but with their numbers still intact. As the Maximal base came under attack from Quickstrike and his forces, Rhinox casually worked on a new machine while Rattrap freaked the hell out. Suddenly, Airazor appeared and was attacked by Sentinel. Much to Rattrap's chagrin, Rhinox shut Sentinel down to allow Airazor to get inside the base, though it considerably weakened their defenses.

Seeing an opening, Blackarachnia infiltrated the base and effortlessly took out Rattrap and Airazor. Rhinox proceeded to pull out a strange "gun," but instead of pointing it at her, he pointed it at himself and proceeded to "blow his brains out." With the job well done, Blackarachnia left the base as it exploded.

As it turned out, the "gun" was part of Rhinox's machine, which was being kept safe from the explosion (along with Rattrap and Airazor) by a small force field. The "gun" allowed Rhinox to travel into Transwarp space, where he found the spark of Optimus Primal, about to move on to his deathly reward. Reminding Primal of his duty to his Maximals, he helped Primal's spark escape Transwarp space and return to his body, turning it into a Transmetal. Beast Wars Metals #1

When Rampage became too much for Optimus Primal, he contacted Rhinox and asked for a map of undersea volcanic activity in their vicinity. Rhinox sent the data, which helped Primal set off a chain reaction that blasted Rampage into space. Beast Wars Metals #2

Rhinox later received a transmission from Dinobot, who was recovering from injuries in an anthropoid village. Beast Wars Metals #3

He next watched the battle between Airazor and the mind-controlled Tigatron on a monitor and sent Optimus to help them. Beast Wars Metals #4

His monitoring skills came in handy again when he hacked into the security cameras of the Ark and found that Megatron was plotting to kill Optimus Prime. Beast Wars Metals #5

Rhinox and Rattrap followed Primal in their vehicle modes, but were too slow to keep up. They arrived after the final battle was finished and Rhinox pondered how they were going to fix history. Beast Wars Metals #6

Transformers Legends anthology (2)

The Maximals crashed in Mexico around 1,000 B.C.E., near where the Natiltec tribe lived. Their war with the Predacons eventually involved the local humans, and after the situation had been resolved, Rhinox recorded and encoded a message onto a cave wall alongside a Natiltec warrior's writings. Some three thousand years later, it was discovered by an archaeology team, who were able to use Laserbeak to play back an audio recording of Rhinox. Fire in the Dark

Beast Wars: Uprising

As one of the Maximals forced to continue the war which the Autobots were no longer able to fight, Rhinox was part of a small team under the command of Optimus Primal that went up against the Darksyders. He and Silverbolt were both killed early in the conflict, spurring the others to rebel against Primal and the status quo. The Maximals later made use of the impercepton shield he had built, using it to infiltrate the Ferromax Detention Center so they could rescue Dynobot. Alone Together: Prologue

2005 IDW continuity

First appearance: The Transformers: Robots in Disguise #34
(thumbnail)
Sure hope they don't keep using this Forged to Fight design everywhere!
*finger to ear*
oh no

One of many beast-type Cybertronians serving under Onyx Prime ten million years ago, Rhinox of the Mournsong was guarding his master's citadel in Kalis when Nova Major, Galvatron, and Alpha Trion appeared and demanded entry. Unwilling to fight, he let the three into the citadel, where they confirmed that Onyx had already departed from Cybertron. As Rhinox wondered aloud what would happen to him next, Nova Major promised him he and the other beasts would have a place in the new united Cybertronian society. The Crucible

Millions of years later, Rhinox was still in the service of Onyx/Shockwave, and watched as his master was paraded through the streets in chains after his recent capture. Rhinox sought out Starscream at Shockwave's request and extended an invitation to the former chancellor for a private chat with his master. Unstopped and Unstoppable

(thumbnail)
He's three gigabytes of attitude on a two-gig hard drive.

When Unicron had begun his attack on Cybertron, Rhinox had already traveled to Earth to meet with his master, presenting him with a replacement gun-arm when the Decepticon materialized in the streets of Toronto. At Shockwave's command, the Maximals then began razing the city to make way for the future. Road's End Snake-Eyes, Agent Helix, Tempest, and the Red Shadows arrived to engage them, as well as Stardrive, whom Rhinox briefly faced off against. Assembly

Rhinox returned to Shockwave's side in the CN Tower as his master attempted to compensate for the disruptions to the plan caused by the Talisman's removal from Cybertron and Unicron's continued survival. Shockwave tried to have Bludgeon bring his ship down for an evacuation, only for the mad scientist to unveil himself as an acolyte of Unicron and servant of chaos, much to Shockwave's disbelief. Rhinox chose that moment to reveal that all the Maximals now served Unicron. The Decepticon easily overpowered Rhinox and attempted to execute him, only to find Rhinox had rigged the cannon so it could not fire on any Maximals. Tearing off the weapon, Rhinox coldly denounced Shockwave's lies, manipulations and mockery of faith, citing it as why the Maximals had turned against "Onyx Prime". Before Rhinox could execute his former master, he was slain from behind by Prowl, who blew up his head with a vamparc ribbon shot. Ceremony

Legends World

The middle-aged section manager of Axalon Trading Company, Rhinox was present when the company hired Rattrap. After Rattrap began talking about Transformers, Rhinox revealed he was a fan as well, and though the two hit it off well at first with their shared fan vocabulary, they hit a snag when it turned out Rhinox only liked Generation 1 while the younger Rattrap preferred Beast Wars. The Generation Gap Like the other employees, he transformed into robot mode to do office work. The Transformation Gap When Rattrap was ogling Airazor and Nightscream, Rhinox let him know the two weren't actually female, The Gender Gap a fact the two later lamented together. The Gender Gap Part 2

Together with the other toy nerds of Axalon, Rhinox visited the Transformers Celebration 2014 event, where he got cried tears of happiness and nostalgia over a Generation 1 Optimus Prime-inspired truck with a Prime bust in its trailer, a recorded message from Tesshō Genda, and a clear Prime toy he got. When the truck left, however, he was forced to comment that its single windshield wasn't accurate to Prime's design. Bonus Chapter: Transformers Celebration 2014 As he and the others looked over the toys they'd bought at the event, Rhinox joked that Silverbolt's movie Optimus Prime looked ready to go to school with the backpack he was wearing. He was very pleased with his own Classic Optimus Prime and its vehicle mode's resemblance to G1 Prime, but got violently upset when Silverbolt transformed it into its movie-based robot mode and had it ride Grimlock. When it came to Rattrap's Dinobots, the three joked about the toy weapons' resemblance to food and utensils until they all got hungry. TF4 Toy Party

While visiting Tokyo Toy Show 2014, Rhinox and the others were reminded of the unsightliness of their hobby when they ran into company president Optimus Primal, who was only there for his son. As the oldest of the group and by proxy the most embarrassing, Rhinox took it upon himself to reassure the others there was nothing wrong with their liking toys by dancing to an Age of Extinction-themed song for kids, which didn't help. Their discovery of Masterpiece Star Saber, a toy aimed at adults like them, ended up cheering everyone up, after which Rhinox continued dancing. After witnessing Primal and his son bond over a Transformers toy, they softened up and admitted that Transformers was most certainly for kids. Tokyo Toy Show 2014 Report At work, Rhinox went on a tirade about why the '80s of his youth had been so great, almost scaring off Rattrap and Silverbolt until he caught their interest with the fact that Japan had no consumption tax back then. After looking it up, Silverbolt burst his bubble by telling him the tax was implemented in '89. The Era Gap

LG03 comic Tankor.jpg

One day, Primal left the office with a warning not to touch his bananas, which naturally prompted Rhinox and the others to eat them all as quickly as possible. Even Though I Told You Not To... Rhinox later said goodbye to Cheetor after a night on the town. Cheetor at Night When his his co-workers were turned into techno-organic robots, Rhinox was jealous and wished he could be a cool robot, imagining he'd look like Tankor. LG03 Tankor Prologue His wish came true when he was affected by Transformers sickness and turned into Tankor overnight. Devoted to restoring the world to how it was in the '80s when he was young, Tankor used his newfound power to terrorize Tokyo with his Tankor Drones and '80s Transformation Beam, inconveniencing his co-workers by turning their modern electronics into their 30-year old counterparts. Opposing his ambition, Rattrap used a bomb to send Tankor and his drones flying in an explosion, though he appreciated the fact that it was at least an '80s-like explosion. Bonus Edition Vol. 3

Tankor did not give up, however, but went on to build two robot soldiers, Whirl and Roadbuster, to aid him in his plans. He brought them to the city to continue his attack, but was annoyed that Waspinator claimed his new underlings were Transformers characters when Tankor had in fact based them on an unrelated robot anime from the '80s. To his surprise, Whirl then developed a desire to be a hero and turned on him. Bonus Edition Vol. 4 Having lost a soldier, Tankor decided to enact his "Total Humanity '80s Transformation Plan" and entrusted the '80s Transformation Beam to the loyal Roadbuster, who blasted everyone who opposed them into '80s forms. An impassioned plea by Rattrap not to get hung up on the past brought Tankor to a halt, and though he couldn't bring himself to renounce his nostalgia, the opening let Whirl and Rattrap counterattack and defeat Roadbuster. Tankor retreated with his underling and later settled down to run an '80s-themed café in Akihabara. Bonus Edition Vol. 5

At one point, Tankor ran into Thrust and Jetstorm and, seeing them as kindred spirits, tried to convert them into '80s fans as well. They both refused, causing him to grow angry and attack them. I'm Tankor, dana! During Christmas, Tankor dressed up like Santa Claus and handed out Generation 1 toys. Merry X'mas!! He eventually relapsed and started attacking Tokyo with Roadbuster and a returned Whirl again, only to be defeated by the dimensionally displaced Jetfire and revert to the harmless Rhinox. Bonus Edition Vol. 7

G1 Megatron Legends manga.jpg

The tall statures of Rhinox and the others at Axalon Co. was a source of grief for Rattrap, who disliked his small size. Bonus Edition Vol. 8 When Rattrap's aunt Arcee showed up at Axalon after being afflicted with Transformers sickness, Rhinox and Tigatron recognized her from The Transformers: The Movie and defended her from suspicious police officer Ai. Bonus Edition Vol. 10 The two were jealous of Rattrap's close relationship with Arcee as a child until they realized she hadn't been a giant robot back then. Arcee Chapter Rhinox was among the adoring fans who welcomed Megatron when he arrived in the Legends World, happily chanting "All hail Megatron!" at the bewildered Decepticon. Lord Megatron Goes to the Legends World While attending Tokyo Toy Show 2015, Rhinox and friends witnessed Black Convoy hostile takeover of a stage play. Bonus Edition Vol. EX

After Metroplex crushed their office, the employees of Axalon took up residence in his city mode, where they listened to their janitor tell them about Metroplex's backstory. To Rhinox's surprise, the old man's knowledge of G1 stories was even greater than his own. The Mysterious Knowledgeable Grandpa Chapter He later watched in awe when the janitor revealed himself to be Alpha Trion and summoned Ultra Magnus into their universe. Bonus Edition Vol. 14 After getting caught up in Armada Megatron's toy thefts, LG-18 Armada Starscream Super Mode Prologue 2 Rhinox was used as an example of those Legends natives whose desires served to power up the Zamojin, and he very much desired the rare Unicron of Light toy left behind by Armada Megatron. Bonus Edition Vol. 18

Whirl and Roadbuster, created by Rhinox during his time as Tankor, returned to him with a request that he work his magic again to build a new body for their leader Springer, which he did. LG19 Sprung Prologue When the visiting Deadlock was sent back to his native Cloud World, Rhinox and several others were accidentally dragged along with him and had to be returned home by SARA. Bonus Edition Vol. EX Rhinox was later approached by the ghost of an alternate version of himself, Bonus Edition Vol. EX who had sensed his regrets over how he'd fought his friends during his time as Tankor. Explaining that he'd experienced something similar but died in the process, the other Rhinox tried cheering Legends Rhinox up with the fact that he was still alive and able to make up for his mistakes in the future. Grateful for his counsel, Rhinox repaid his counterpart by building him a new body to inhabit, thus giving him a future as well. Bonus Edition Vol. EX Rhinox later joined his pals in stopping Skids from sending all their interdimensional friends back to their home universes. Bonus Edition Vol. 20

Rhinox put his robot building skills to work once more when Axalon Co. partnered with the Autobot Headmasters, lending a hand in creating a new transtector and partner drone for Hardhead. Bonus Edition Vol. 21 Before sending the former Decepticon Headmaster Juniors to the Legends World, Grand showed them what to expect in the form of an image of Rhinox and his friends. LG24 Shockwave & Cancer Prologue He was alter among those tormented by the volume of Blaster's music, Bonus Edition Vol. 27 and had a hand in mass-producing Master-Braces after Rewind provided the company with blueprints. Bonus Edition Vol. 28 The Autobot Axalon partnership went on to build a new HQ in the form of Fortress Maximus transtectors, though Rhinox and Primal regretted that they had to sell Metroplex to make up for the costs. He treated Fortress after he suddenly collapsed from the side effects of controlling Maximus. Bonus Edition Vol. 31

Rhinox went on to build a transtector for Chromedome Bonus Edition Vol. 32 as well as Highbrow. Bonus Edition Vol. 33 He was seen taking Astrotrain's commuter service to work. Bonus Edition Vol. 40 While assisting in the construction of a new Godbomber, Rhinox was tricked into showing its blueprints to Nightbeat, disguised as Minerva, allowing her to copy the data. Bonus Edition Vol. 42 He later watched as the Dimensional Patrol placed the Legends World under martial law. Bonus Edition Vol. EX Having learned nothing from earlier, he was so taken with Nightbeat's '80s anime aesthetic that he joined her in helping the Decepticons build Trypticon. Decepticon Civil War Alongside many others, he was then eaten whole by Trypticon and used as a power source. Bonus Edition Vol. 43

Following Trypticon's defeat, Rhinox was among those who voted G1 Megatron in as mayor of the rebuilt Neo Akihabara City, Targetmaster Chapter Prologue and witnessed Hot Rod battle Scourge. Bonus Edition Vol. 45 He was granted Beastformer armor and the name "'80s King Punch Rhino" when White Leo tried to turn the locals into a Beastformer army, Bonus Edition Vol. 51 and was caught up in the Sweeps' city-wide search for White Lune. Late Xmas Present Chapter Following the destruction of the city during another incident, he watched with joy as Topspin repaired it. Bonus Edition Vol. 66

The Beast Wars Road Map

At some point before the Shrouding cut off the Transcendent Technomorphs completely from the rest of the multiverse, TransTech Rhinox contacted his counterpart in the "Legendsverse" to share information about the Beast Wars and its impact on the multiverse. "Legends" Rhinox wondered aloud why the TransTechs couldn't simply ask their Alpha Trion to open up some inter-dimensional gates for them, and asked if the source of their troubles didn't stem from Quantum Operative Skids isolating their universe with his "Quantum Keep-Out Seal." The Beast Wars Road Map

2021 Beast Wars comic

SavageLandingPart1-Rhinox.jpg

In spite of his imposing proportions and powerful weaponry, Rhinox was a pacifist who preferred diplomacy to fighting, and was able to appreciate the rules to much greater degree than his friend Optimus Primal. Unlike many other Maximals, he willingly cooperated with his Predacon colleagues, and claimed to have even loved one once. Maximals Strike Back, Part 2 In the past, he'd once dissected a kremzeek while working for the Maximal Science Ministry. The Beginning of the End

Rhinox was part of the Axalon's skeleton crew during a routine protoform delivery mission to H'nkshanaar-4, and spent most of his off-hours in the ship's gymnasium sparring with Optimus. However, their ship was diverted off-course to intercept a warship stolen by Predacon rebels. To Rhinox's displeasure, Primal forewent diplomacy in favour of direct attack but the Axalon quickly found itself outmatched. When the Predacons managed to open a transwarp conduit, Nyx managed to follow them through time, though both ships soon crashed on an unknown planet. With a high level of energon radiation, the Axalon reconstructed the crew with protective beast modes. Savage Landing Part 1

Busying himself with the topographical scanners, Rhinox observed that the planet was patchwork of landscapes and the anomalously potent energon crystals before he scolded Rattrap for consuming the local fruit. As the two debated the benefits of organic nutrients, they were covertly observed by a trio of Vok. When the invisible aliens departed, Rattrap noted a feeling of being watched, something Rhinox sardonically blamed on the fruit. Savage Landing Part 2 After Nyx went missing, Rhinox praised his commander keeping a cool head; although he agreed that they should wait until morning to act, he also noted that there were too many unknowns to come up with a theory on what had become of their pilot. Savage Landing Part 3

SavageLandingPart5-mynameisoptimusprimal.jpg

Rhinox, Rattrap and Cheetor worked through the night trying to rewire the ship's computer, but it would be Primal who found a way to triangulate Nyx's position by tapping into the orbital stasis pod network. When the four Maximals went to intercept Nyx, however, they found an injured Nyx and her unexpected savior: Dinobot, who announced he'd come to join the Maximals. Savage Landing Part 4 When the rest of the Predacons closed in on their base, Rhinox, Optimus, and Cheetor went to buy time while Rattrap brought the rest of the damaged ship's defence systems back online. In the battle, Rhinox traded blows with Skold, who, despite her diminutive size, hit as hard as him. Savage Landing Part 5

By the time that Dinobot joined the battle on the side of the Maximals, Rhinox used his beast mode to push Skold back; after Rattrap brought the ship's shields back online, Rhinox and the other Maximals retreated under the cover of the Axalon's deflector shield... all except Dinobot, whose Predacon spark signature wouldn't allow him to pass. As the other Predacons laid Dinobot low and nearly beat him to death, the Maximals rescued their new comrade by turning their guns on the Predacons and intimidating them into a retreat. Rhinox brought Dinobot's gravely wounded body back to the Axalon and did what he could to repair him, but Dinobot's spark remained weak and Rhinox couldn't tell if the damage would prove fatal. Several days later, during another sparring match, Optimus confided in Optimus that his recent mistakes had nearly cost them dearly, but Rhinox reminded Optimus that there was no room for him to start second-guessing his own orders. When the conversation turned to Dinobot, the pair found that Dinobot had survived, but wouldn't fight at full strength again. Despite this handicap, Optimus Primal invited Rhinox to stay with them, an offer that Dinobot ultimately accepted. Savage Landing Part 6

PodPart2-Rhinox.jpg

Rhinox and the other Maximals were playing cards when the recently activated Blackarachnia penetrated their shields and broke into their base without their knowing. Pod Part 1 After Cheetor went off to investigate a noise and didn't return, Rhinox and the others found that he'd lost a fight against the newcomer and wound up trapped in a web cocoon. Optimus ordered the Maximals to split up and sweep the ship to find the intruder, and while searching Rhinox found Blackarachnia hacking the Axalon's systems and sabotaging the rest of the stasis pods by uploading a shell program to the network and forcibly de-orbiting the pods. Rhinox attempted to stop her, but the nimble Predacon evaded his grasp and made her escape. Rhinox reported that more than half of the protoforms within stasis pods would emerge as Predacons, and Primal angrily vowed that they would have to go on the offensive by taking the fight to the Predacons. Pod Part 2

While searching for a stasis pod in the jungle, Rhinox blundered into one of Tarantulas's booby traps and wound up stranded in an enormous labyrinth. There, he found Waspinator, whom Tarantulas and Blackarachnia had used used to test their maze before they abandoned him. The pair formed an unlikely alliance to escape the maze, but when the two found a way out Waspinator quickly abandoned Rhinox. Rhinox's Amaze-ing Adventure

MaximalsStrikeBackPart3-SkoldVsRhinox.jpg

After Razorbeast joined their team, Rhinox stood by with the other Maximals as Optimus and Dinobot laid out their plan to take back the Golden Disk and take out the Predacon's transwarp drive with the help of one of the Axalon's escape ships, which they'd turned into an improvised shuttlecraft. While travelling to the Predacon base, Rhinox admitted that he didn't like the idea of fighting, but understood that Megatron's actions left them no other choice. Maximals Strike Back, Part 1 Rhinox fought Scorponok, Maximals Strike Back, Part 2 then went up against Skold once more, who'd been driven mad with grief after Terrorsaur killed her only friend Razorbeast. In Spite of Skold's fury, Rhinox calmly explained that he understood her pain; Skold, briefly moved by this show of empathy, coldly ordered him to walk away before she changed her mind. Ultimately, however, the Maximals failed to retrieve the Golden Disk, although Rattrap took the liberty of downloading most of the information stored on the disk into his own systems. Maximals Strike Back, Part 3

PrimalRage-Rhinox.jpg

When Cheetor was injured in an energon explosion, Rhinox brought the wounded Maximal back to the Axalon for repairs. He and Optimus did what they could for their young comrade, but despite mending his body Cheetor refused to wake up. When he finally came to, however, he warned them of a strange dream involving the Vok, before his systems triggered a hard reboot that wiped all memories of his mental encounter with the aliens. The Speedway of Central Consciousness

Rhinox's medical skills were again called upon when Dinobot and Optimus were both exposed to an unusual energon bomb after a run-in with Blackarachnia and Tarantulas. However, he discovered that samples of aggression-enhancing "red energon" had turned Optimus into an out-of-control berserker, who rampaged through the ship until Rhinox forcibly restrained him. Dinobot convinced Primal to try and use this extra aggression to take out Megatron once and for all; though Rattrap criticized this course of action, Rhinox pointed out that the over-exertion would help flush the contaminated energon from Primal's systems and return him to lucidity faster than otherwise. Primal Rage When night fell and Primal still hadn't returned, Rhinox, Cheetor, Rattrap, and Nyx set up a campfire outside the Axalon to keep watch. Inspired by the spooky nighttime ambience, Cheetor told a ghost story about a terrible war on an alien planet, which caused Rhinox to wonder if a similar fate could befall Cybertron. The Morphlings

TheEnd-Rhinox.jpg

Primal returned from the jungle with bad news: the Vok were real, and planned to wipe out all the Cybertronians on the planet. With no other options, the two sides agreed to a temporary truce, and Rhinox went to work on the Darksyde with Scorponok, where the pair hit upon using the Darksyde's damaged transawrp drive to send a distress message home to Cybertron. However, before they could put this plan into play, the group realized that Tarantulas had cut a deal with the Vok and sabotaged their efforts to coordinate a defense against the aliens. Captured and cornered, Tarantulas unleashed a monstrous zombie Terrorsaur that freed Tarantulas and knocked Rhinox unconscious. The Beginning of the End

Rhinox came to just as the "Children of the Vok" began a full-scale assault on the crashed Darksyde. Amidst the chaos, he rescued a terrified Skold from the zombie Terrorsaur using a combination of his beast mode strength and his own and chainguns. After the Vok had been destroyed for good, their remaining servants agreed to a truce and left to live in the wild as their creators had intended, while Rhinox and the other Maximals left aboard the repaired Axalon to search for Megatron, whom Rattrap had deliberately blasted into unspace. The End

War for Cybertron Trilogy continuity

War for Cybertron Trilogy marketing material

WFC-Kingdom-Rhinox.jpg

The Maximals traveled across time to find the AllSpark and change the fate of Cybertron. While battling the Predacons on pre-Ice Age Earth, both sides were joined by the Autobots and Decepticons, their epic battle changing their combined destinies forever.

Rhinox's function was a scientist, and he trans-scanned into a rhinoceros. His rotating doom blasters were his powers and weapons, and his core traits were his tech-savviness, dependability, and strategic mind. Rhinox's message from the future was that he possesses both the brains and brawn to get back to Cybertron. Kingdom webpage[1]

In a possible destiny recorded on the Voyager Golden Disk, Rhinox bore witness to Autobot leader Optimus Prime leading Cybertron to a new golden age. Kingdom Golden Disk cards

War for Cybertron Trilogy cartoon

WFC-Kingdom-Ep1-Rhinox-and-Hound.jpg
Voice actor: Andy Barnett (English), Taisuke Nakano (Japanese), Stephan Baumecker (German), Frédéric Souterelle (French), Luis Hurtado (Latin-American Spanish), Ashok Verma (Hindi)

Rad-sm.gif
I want to tell you about the Transformers!

This character article is a stub and is missing information on their fictional appearances. You can help Transformers Wiki by expanding it.

Transformers Go! Go!


Rad-sm.gif
I want to tell you about the Transformers!

This character article is a stub and is missing information on their fictional appearances. You can help Transformers Wiki by expanding it.

Flowers, Delivery, and Inattention Go! Go! issue 26 Go! Go! issue 28


This section covers fiction that is ongoing. It will be added to as the story progresses. If it isn't current, you can help by updating it.

Games

Beast Wars: Transformers video game continuity

Beast Wars: Transformers video game advertising comic

Upon arriving on "Planet Energon," the dangers of Energon radiation forced the six surviving Maximals and their Predacon adversaries to take on beast alternate forms. Beast Wars: Transformers video game advertising comic

Beast Wars: Transformers video game

Voice actor: ??? (English), ??? (Japanese)

Many Beast Wars combatants had managed to construct personal bases, customized to their personal tastes, due to the extended duration of the war. Rhinox's own base was a sprawling Metropolis. Rhinox joined his fellow Maximals in battling not only an entrenched Predacon threat, but the interdimensional monsters known as the Skriix.

Maximal campaign

Rhinox eventually expanded his "Urban Zone" base to within reach of Tarantulas's lair. Rhinox's base was judged a threat by the Predacons, who successfully took control of it. Tarantulas then personally took over operations of the annexed territory, until his demise.

Upon having eliminated the Predacon threat, Rhinox was part of Optimus Primal's roll call when he announced that the galaxy was now at peace.

Due to the nature of this game, a player may select various individual characters to perform the feats required in every level, and complete the game's narrative. Thus, any playable Maximal can fill the role of protagonist in Maximal Mode. To view the various feats Rhinox can accomplish throughout gameplay in Maximal Mode, it is told on the Beast Wars video game page, wherein Rhinox fills the role of the nameless Maximal.
Predacon campaign

Rhinox's "Urban Zone" base encroached too closely onto Tarantulas's territory, and had to be dealt with. Upon infiltrating the base however, the Predacons had to contend with Rhinox's giant Mech unit, styled after the Maximal scientist. Once Rhinox's defences were conquered by the Predacons, Rhinox himself met an untimely death by Predacon hands. Beast Wars: Transformers

Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals (PS)

(thumbnail)
"Ayyyyyyy!"
Voice actor: Alec Willows (English), Daiki Nakamura (Japanese)

Transmetal Rhinox stayed behind at the Axalon as his fellow Maximals went to battle the Predacons. When the Predacons managed to infiltrate the Maximal base, Rhinox activated its internal defenses and drove them off. Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals (PS)

Transformers Legends

During a tectonic upshift, a huge amount of Energon was exposed. Rhinox and the other Maximals found themselves the victims of a Predacon ambush as they tried to secure the Energon themselves, and the cache ultimately fell into Predacon hands. Beast Wars

Transformers: Battle Tactics

(thumbnail)
In this game, Transmetal Rhinox comes first.
(thumbnail)
Which is probably why this Rhinox has more health.

Rhinox participated in battles against a variety of opponents, both Autobots and Decepticons. Sometimes there were many of him! He appeared in two different bodies:

  • Rhinox Transmetal—This Super Rare character first appeared in the "Transmetals: Beast Wars - Episode 1" event, and could be recruited by collecting 250 units of Cybermetal, 75 units of Transmetal, 35 event cores, and 10 cores of this character.
  • Rhinox (BW)—This Super Rare character first appeared in the "Beast Wars: Episode 4" event, and could be recruited by collecting 250 units of Cybermetal, 75 units of Transmetal, 35 event cores, and 10 cores of this character.

Transformers: Battle Tactics

Transformers: Forged to Fight

(thumbnail)
Techno-organic gone scarier combat-rhino techno-organic.

Rhinox was one of the Maximals pulled from his universe by the Quintessons and forced to fight. He eventually joins the Commander. There are at least a few of him running around! As a Tech bot, he has a stack of Shields that Overclock Shock damage if removed with force. His rhino horn can Power Lock enemies and his Chainguns of Doom Bleed them from afar and up close for Specials. Transformers: Forged to Fight

Optimus Prime encountered Rhinox, and he tried to reason that he was just on a mission to gather resources. But Rhinox explained that resources are scarce and everyone wants them. He then introduced him to his "friends", the Chainguns of Doom! A Beast to Start


MysteryOfConvoy UltraMagnus RobotSprite.gif
The Game Full of Death and Suffering...!

This character article is a stub and is missing information on their video game appearances. You can help Transformers Wiki by expanding it.

Transformers: Earth Wars

Rhinox


MysteryOfConvoy UltraMagnus RobotSprite.gif
The Game Full of Death and Suffering...!

This character article is a stub and is missing information on their video game appearances. You can help Transformers Wiki by expanding it.

Transformers: Earth Wars
Rhinox EarthWars.jpg
  • Class: Special
  • Lowest Star Rating: 2 stars
  • Ability: Life Stealing Charge - Rush into combat imprisoning buildings on your path for 7 seconds. The vines deal damage per second, slow down defences by 70% and heal your nearby allies by a percentage of the defence's damage value per second.
    • Cost: 5 ability points, +2 for reuses.

Rhinox at Transformers: Earth Wars Wiki

Toys

Main article: Rhinox (BW)/toys

Merchandise

Notes

  • Rhino most likely derives from early concepts for Rhinox, but 2006 IDW Publishing material decided to roll with the packaging name "Rhino" to characterize the McDonald's toy as a separate individual.
  • Rhinox is the only member of the Beast Wars Maximal lineup who was there from the beginning and remains both alive and unchanged for the entire course of the show.
  • Rhinox spends all of season 3 in robot mode without transforming into his beast mode at any point. He is the only Beast Wars character to do this for an entire season.
  • Skir's original intention was that Rhinox had "seen all sides of the argument, and chose to go more in Megatron's direction" in Beast Machines, and that after a quiet chat, he and Optimus would part company. As Richard Newman played that scene with growling and shouting, Rhinox instead sounded not quite in his right mind after his experiences. The big storm in the background certainly didn't help either.[2]
  • According to the Beast Machines series bible, Rhinox would have returned along with the restored Cybertron in the final episode. [3]
  • In the Japanese dub of Beast Wars, Rhinox received the vocal tic of ending his sentences with the phrase -dana, or chanting it to himself incessantly while firing his chainguns or running or doing just about anything. He was also prone to using the phrase dosukoi, a nonsense word generally associated with sumo wrestlers and typically applied to large, dumb, bruiser characters in shows (Animated Bulkhead would also use the phrase). The verbal tic of chanting -dana would be passed onto Tankor and the Tank drones in Beast Wars Returns, where it was played-up to manic excess.
  • Rhinox's Polish market name inspired the name nosoron for Cybertronian rhinoceroses in Animated and Beast Wars: Uprising.
  • In the 2021 Beast Wars comic, Rhinox's Cybertronian body is a stylized version of his 2006 Timelines toy.[4]

Foreign names

  • Japanese: Rhinox (ライノックス Rainokkusu)
  • Italian: Rinox, Metal Rinox (Transmetal)
  • Korean: Rhinox (라이녹스 Rainogseu)
  • Mandarin: Xīniú (犀牛, "Rhinoceros")
  • Polish: Nosoron ("Lector,Rhinon"), Rogor (Canal + Dubb, "Hornor")
  • Russian: Rogonos (first dub, Рогонос, "Horned"), Rinox (second dub, Ринокс Rinoks)
  • Spanish: Rinox

References

  1. Kingdom webpage
  2. Q&A from Bigbot's "bobskir.com" (archive copy)
  3. Beast Machines show bible @TFRaw
  4. "Optimus bot mode is based on 10th anniversary toy. Alt mode is botcon but as a pickup instead of a racer. Spot on with the rest (though ironhide takes some slight inspiration from TFA lugnut in head/extreme proportions)"—Josh Burcham, Twitter, 2021/02/03
Advertisement
TFsource.com - Your Source for Everything Transformers!