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#REDIRECT ] |
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'''Targetmaster''' is a subline of the ] toyline that include ] sidekicks who can transform into the Transformers' ]s. |
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{{Rcat shell| |
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==1987 Targetmasters== |
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{{R from fictional element|Transformers}} |
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The first Targetmasters assortment, released in 1987, included six new characters, and five existing ones from the ] line, whose toys were slightly remoulded with larger peg holes to hold their new weapons. |
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}} |
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''']''' Targetmasters |
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*] ''(hovercar)'' with Haywire |
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*] ''(4X4)'' with Pinpointer |
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*] ''(sports car)'' with Firebolt |
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*] ''(pickup truck)'' with Recoil |
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*] ''(car)'' with Peacemaker |
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*] ''(dune buggy)'' with Spoilsport |
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''']''' Targetmasters |
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*] ''(spacecraft)'' with Nightstick |
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*] ''(spacecraft)'' with Aimless |
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*] ''(hovercraft)'' with Fracas |
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*] ''(twin-nosed jet)'' with Caliburst |
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*] ''(jet)'' with Blowpipe |
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===Animated Series=== |
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] |
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The Targetmasters were introduced in ''The Rebirth'', the three-part fourth-season finale to the original ''Transformers'' animated series. |
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When the Decepticons attempted to seize the power of the ] in ], a group of Autobots were blasted across the galaxy to the planet ] by the ancient foundry's energies, where they took up with a group of rebel Nebulons. To fight the ], the evil rulers of Nebulos, some of the Autobots and Nebulons bonded their bodies and minds together, becoming ], serving up a definitive defeat to the Decepticons pursuing them. This group of Decepticons was then approached by the Hive, who sought to replicate the Headmaster process with them, but Cyclonus was able to bargain them to down to taking only half the Decepticons' heads, offering up the weapons of the others as alternatives. Using Nebulan technology, the guns were engineered into a transforming exo-suits which were donned by five members of the Hive, creating the Targetmasters, giving their Transformer wielders ten times the accuracy and firepower. |
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The Decepticon Targetmasters overcame the Autobots and reclaimed the key to the Plasma Energy Chamber, but in the struggle, the Autobot Brainstorm was able to scan Cyclonus's partner, Nightstick, and that data was used to duplicate the Targetmaster process with the remaining Autobots and Nebulan rebels, creating the Autobot Targetmasters. Their power, however, was nothing in the face of the Decepticons' newest weapon, the super robot, ], who transported the Decepticon forces back to Cybertron, where their plans were foiled by ] and ]. |
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====''Transformers: Headmasters''==== |
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Although ''The Rebirth'' marked the end of the ''Transformers'' cartoon in the ], in Japan, a different direction was taken - ignoring the events of ''The Rebirth'', a brand new, exclusive 35-episode series, ''Transformers: Headmasters'', was produced to take its place, which introduced the Targetmasters towards its conclusion. Notably, in Japan, the 1986 characters were not re-released as Targetmasters - only the six new characters featured in ''Headmasters''. |
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In the world of ''Transformers: Headmasters'', there are no Nebulons - the Headmasters themselves are simply small Transformers, who, having settled on the planet Master, learned to transform into heads and connect to lifeless larger bodies named Transtectors. It was to Master that the Decepticon forces returned after the Autobots forced them to flee Earth, and consequently, a ship was dispatched by the planet's inhabitants to alert the Earth-bound Autobots to the Decepticon invasion. At the same time, the youthful Autobot, ], had summoned three of his old superior officers - Pointblank ''(Blanker in Japan)'', Sureshot and Crosshairs - to Earth to aid in the clean-up operation currently going on, when Autobot Headmaster Chromedome accidentally activated one of the plasma bombs the Decepticons had left behind. Heading out into space so that the bomb might harmlessly explode out in the void, the Autobots then crossed paths with the approaching Master ship, which was being pursued by the Decepticon ] and three new troops - Slugslinger, Misfire and Triggerhappy. As Pointblank and his men tangled with the Decepticons, the Master refugees offered their help by transporting away the plasma bombs, only to have the bombs detonate in the middle of the battlefield. |
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Recovering from the explosion, Pointblank, Crosshairs and Sureshot discovered that the six Master refugees had been fused to their arms. Although ] was able to surgically remove them, a bond now existed between the larger Transformers and the Master refugees, who could now freely attach and detatch to their wrists as guns. Unfortunately for these new Targetmasters, the same had happened to Slugslinger and his fellows. The Targetmasters joined up with Fortress's crew on the mission to Master, but quickly clashed with the Headmasters - Pointblank and his men were hard, experienced warriors who thought little of the Headmasters, and Pointblank spent a good deal of time attempting to soothe Chromedome's firey temper to improve his battle ability. |
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Two additional Targetmaster toys were available exclusively in Japan - '''Stepper''', a recolor on the ] toy, ], and '''Artfire''', a recolor of ]'s ]. These two were armed with Nightstick and Fracas, respectively, although the guns went unnamed. The characters themselves did not appear in the ''Headmasters'' animated series, featuring only in the official ] of the series. Rare and much-sought-after for some time, Stepper was eventually reissued in ], and even made it to the US in their ''Commemorative Series'' reissue line, now with the name '''Ricochet'''. |
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===]=== |
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With the Autobot Headmasters captured by their Decepticon counterparts, the Decepticons ran rampant over the planet Nebulos, a group of the remaining Autobots on the planet joined with a group of Nebulons branded as criminals by Nebulon's political leader, Lord Zarak - partner of the Decepticon, Scorponok - in order to protect the Nursery, Nebulos's primary agricultural research facility, against Decepticon attack. Through bio-mechanical engineering, the Nebulons were given the ability to transform into the guns of the Autobots, and, as Targetmasters, they fended the Decepticons off. Within several days, the Decepticons had duplicated the process with five of their own troops. Then, realising how much damage his actions were causing Nebulos, Zarak freed the Autobot Headmasters, who fled the planet, and were pursued by the Decepticons, leaving Nebulos to recover from the brief war. The Autobots, including the Targetmasters, then traveled to Earth, where they became part of the main Autobot force. |
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Notably, in the Marvel Comics, Firebolt is consistently referred to as '''Sparks''' - except in the exclusive stories contained in the comic's ] counterpart. |
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==1988 Targetmasters== |
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The 1988 Transformers, consisting of entirely new characters, were '''Double Targetmasters''', equipped with two Nebulons who would each transform into a gun, and could combine together into one singular weapon. |
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'''Autobot''' Targetmasters |
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*] ''(])'' with Flintlock and Silencer |
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*] ''(])'' with ] and Boomer |
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*] ''(])'' with Tracer and Holepunch |
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'''Decepticon''' Targetmasters |
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*] ''(])'' with Zigzag and Sunbeam |
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*] ''(])'' with Tiptop and Heater |
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*] ''(])'' with Singe and Hairsplitter |
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Additionally, the combining sub-group, the ], were sold under the Targetmasters banner, due to their ability to become weapons that could be wielded by their combined form, Piranacon. For information on those characters, see their own article. |
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===Marvel Comics=== |
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With the American animated series having concluded the previous year, it fell to Marvel Comics to provide fiction for the 1988 Targetmaster characters in the West - ''anywhere'', in fact, as the Double Targetmasters did not even feature in the Japanese-exclusive series for that year, ''Super-God Masterforce''. |
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The Autobot Double Targetmasters' roles were brief ones - they were seen participating in a raid on ] led by Jazz, ] and ]. The Decepticons, on the other hand, played more prominent parts as troops under the command of ] who served him during the quest for the lost ] - Spinister, in particular, came to doubt Thunderwing's sanity as his commands became more and more unhinged. Quake, in turn, is noted for his durability, having taken fatal damage from ] during the Chaos-Bringer's attack on ] and lived to tell the tale. |
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Also, across the ] in the UK's exclusive ''Transformers'' title, the Decepticon Double Targetmasters became a part of the new Mayhem Attack Squad, charged with hunting down and killing the renegade Decepticons, Catilla and Carnivac. The cowardly Needlenose was given leeway by Spinister and allowed onto the mission, but after the successful murder of Catilla, his nervousness consumed him. Fearing retribution from Carnivac, he subjected his fellow troops to unregistered timing exercises, earning him nothing but their ire and a lack of credibility - something that came back to haunt him when he was attacked and killed by a vengeful Carnivac, and his fellow Decepticons refused to heed his calls for help. |
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==Action Master Targetmasters== |
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Dreamwave comics profiles for the Generation One character expanded the term Targetmaster to include the many ] who carried weapons which turned into sidekicks. These Transformers would then include: |
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*] (with Razor-Sharp) |
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*] (with Firebeast) |
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*] (with Scorpulator) |
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*] (with Sights) |
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*] (with Gatoraider) |
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*] (with Push-Button) |
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*] (with Lionizer) |
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*] (with Glitch) |
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*] (with Fistfight) |
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*] (with Top-Heavy) |
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*] (with Tyrannitron) |
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*] (with Wingthing) |
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*] (with Catgut) |
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==]== |
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In the Transformers: Armada line a good number of Mini-Cons converted into hand-held and port-mounted weapons, which would technically name them Targetmaster partners to larger Transformers who wielded them. |
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] |
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] |
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