Menasor was the name to three fictional characters in the
Transformers universes.
Transformers: Generation 1
Menasor is the combined form to the group of five
Decepticons known as the
Stunticons. He is immensely powerful, capable of delivering a punch with the force of 140 tons. However, owing to the massively conflicting personalities of his component parts - and even more significantly the hatred
Breakdown,
Drag Strip,
Wildrider and
Dead End have for their leader
Motormaster - he is the least stable of the Gestalt Transformers. He would be the ultimate Decepticon weapon were it not for the conflict within him.
Animated series
Menasor first appeared in the cartoon in the second part of "
The Key to Vector Sigma". Megatron ordered the Stunticons to merge after coming under attack from the
Aerialbots - but the Aerialbots merged too, creating
Superion. In the resultant battle, Menasor seemingly had the upper hand; however, the newly-repaired
Omega Supreme arrived and turned the fight. After this, Menasor would appear on several other occasions, seemingly displacing
Devastator as the Decepticons' ultimate weapon.
After the Decepticons located a cure to a devastating cosmic rust plague, Menasor was dispatched to make sure the Autobots didn't get it themselves. This led to another battle with Superion, with Menasor being defeated. Menasor was also on hand to finish off the survivors of a car race which the Autobots were participating in. His sheer strength decimated the Autobots, but one of the human racers ran his car right into the giant combiner's face, allowing the Autobots to escape.
After this, he was crucial in the defeat of Starscream's Combaticons, blindsiding Bruticus and knocking him down a cliff. In the third season he continued to make token appearances, battling and defeating a low on Energon Devastator for an Energon cube, and later battling Defensor, who only had one arm due to one of the team members, First Aid, leaving.
Transformers: Headmasters
Menasor would make sporadic appearances throughout the Japanese
Transformers: The Headmasters show, mostly acting as part of
Galvatron's army and battling other combiners, but never having any major roles. In the last episode, "The final showdown on Earth, Part 2", the combiner tried to harm
Daniel Witwicky and
Wheelie but was blasted by
Sixshot into the ice. Menasor however survived and retreated to the space along the whole Decepticon army, only to see the total defeat of
Scorponok.
Transformers: Zone
Menasor would make a further appearance alongside most of the original series Decepticon
Combiners in the single episode of
Transformers: Zone, as one of the nine "Great Decepticon Generals" (the others being
Devastator,
Bruticus,
Predaking,
Abominus,
King Poseidon,
Trypticon,
Overlord and
BlackZarak) dispatched by the alien Violenjiger to harvest
Zone Energy. They were defeated by
Dai Atlas. It is interesting to note that Menasor here is a singular entity and shows no sign of being the combined form of different Transformers
Marvel Comics
Menasor originally appeared in the U.K. Marvel Transformers comics in a very odd way - as part of a dream sequence. In previous stories,
Optimus Prime had transferred part of the
Matrix of Leadership to
Buster Witwicky. During a mission,
Soundwave detected this and used one of
Bombshell's cerebro-shells to tap into his mind. Buster's vision showed the future of the Transformer race - the combiners. Menasor and Bruticus battled and lost to Defensor and Superion with
Shockwave and Prime looking on. This set the wheels in motion for more combiner teams on both sides.
Menasor made his U.S. Marvel debut a short time later, battling the Aerialbots over the damaged Skids. This was complicated by the presence of the unstable Circuit Breaker and RAAT. To discredit their opponents, the Stunticons actually protected Skids, then formed Menasor to battle the Aerialbots, who'd formed Superion, but were attacked by Circuit Breaker, allowing Menasor to easily beat his foe. He did not appear again save a brief appearance in the U.K. comics' Legacy of Unicron arc, where he was used by Soundwave to break through the doors of Shockwave's citadel to try to save him (unsuccessfully) from Death's Head, Cyclonus and Scourge.
Fun Publications
Based on the Transformers Classics toy line, the Timelines 2007 story is set 15 years after the end of the Marvel Comics story (ignoring all events of the Marvel U.K. and Generation 2 comics).
Although Menasor has yet to be depicted in the comics, he did have a toy made for the line, which was the basis for his form when he appeared in the Classicverse Lithograph sold of BotCon 2007. In this art he was depicted with Motormaster's head.
Transformers Battle Circuit
The Classic line appeared in a simple
Flash-based video game on the Hasbro web site. In this one-on-one fighting game, you press the right and left arrow keys to try to pverpower your opponent. In the came you can play Rodimus, Bumblebee, Grimlock, Jetfire, Starscream, Astrotrain, Trypticon or Menasor. Optimus Prime and Megatron each appear as the
boss you must defeat to win the game.
Dreamwave Productions
Menasor also appeared in
Dreamwave's reimagining of the Transformers universe. Unlike other series, this one portrayed Menasor's members as Decepticons from Cybertron who were made into a combiner back millions of years in Cybertron's past, in an experiment to perfect the combining used for Devastator. After the Great Shutdown, the Stunticons were unable live in peace, and were placed in protoform stasis.
Menasor was revived by Rumble and Frenzy, who had been instructed by Shockwave, who hoped to use him as a distraction while he took control of Vector Sigma. Menasor rampaged around Cybertron, defeating Defensor and killing the Omnibots and numerous others, until Ultra Magnus arrived. Magnus was able to talk the giant's components into arguing amongst themselves. As they did this, Magnus charged and took down Menasor.
Devil's Due Publishing
Menasor appeared again in the third G.I. Joe vs the Transformers crossover from
Devil's Due Publishing. He was part of the Decepticon assault force that attacked Central City under
Serpentor. He took down
Omega Supreme alongside
Piranacon and
Predaking, as well as delivering
Reflector and his ultimatum to Optimus Prime.
Toys
- Generation 1 Mensaor (1986)
- Menasor was sold in two forms, much like the other G1 combiners. Each Stunticon was sold separately (with parts to combine into Menasor included with Motormaster). Also, a gift set including all the Stunticons and parts for Menasor was also sold.
- Generation 2 (unreleased)
- Menasor was repainted during the early nineties but was never released. Although the four Stunticon limbs eventually made it to the public in very limited numbers, Motormaster did not and therefore this Menasor was only seen on the reverse of the packaging to those toys. Menasor did not appear in any Generation 2 fiction.
- Classic Legends Mensaor (2006)
- A redeco of Cybertron Legends Optimus Prime, given Motormaster's color scheme, and renamed Menasor.
- A redeco of Titanium Rodimus Prime in Generation 1 Motormaster colors was produced exclusively for the San Diego Comic-Con in 2007. The toy's bio stated that it was indeed Generation 1 Menasor. "Experimental mechanics may have successfully unified the gestalt frame of Menasor into a whole physical creature, but no level of shell programming or kernel restructuring has been able to modify his fractured mind."
Transformers: Universe (unreleased)
The artwork to an unreleased toy named Menasor was revealed by website Iacon One, however no pictures of this toy was ever released to the public if this toy in fact actually existed. The artwork is clearly of a toy that would have been
Thunderclash originating from Europe during 1992. Menasor is not known whether to be a completely new individual or an upgrade to the original character.
Transformers: Cybertron
Menasor was the name to a Transformer from the fictional planet Gigantion, also known as the Giant Planet and transformed into a large scale drill. Unlike his G1 counterpart, Menasor is not composed of five robots, but is a sentient lifeform of his own and has a more lively personality. He is known as Moledive in Japan. Menasor is teamed up with his Mini-Con partner Heavy Load.
According to exclusive bio information in in the Transformers Collectors' Club magazine #15 Heavy Load's function is maintenance, and he acts as conscience for Menasor. He doesn't wish to rebel against the laws of his planet like Menasor, but he does sympathize with Menasor's point of view and went with him to take care of him.
Animated series
In the episode #40 "Giant" Menasor sided with
Megatron because he was tired of Gigantion's tradition's that didn't make sense. In return for the location of the
Cyber Planet Key, Menasor gets to lead the Giant Planet. He briefly engaged the members of the Cybertron Defense Force-
Hot Shot,
Red Alert, and
Scattershot-but despite his Gigantion Transformer strength was defeated.
Heavy Load first appeared in episode #46, called "Optimus". In that episode Menasor defeated Metroplex in single combat, but Drill Bit and Heavy Load pleaded with Menasor to not finish of Metroplex. Appealing to Menasor to remember the past the rebelious youth rejoined Metroplex's side and allied himself with the Autobots.
In the final episode of Transformers: Cybertron, "Beginning", Optimus Prime (Galaxy Convoy) proposed a new Space Bridge project using the power of the four Cyber Planet Keys and the four great Cybertronian ships. Many Autobots and former Decepticons joined in the project. Leaving Jetfire (Dreadrock) in charge of Cybertron, Optimus Prime lead the Atlantis with the Earth Cyber Planet Key, joined by Red Alert, Safeguard, Scattorshot, Leobreaker, Menasor and Heavy Load.
Fun Publications
Menasor was one of the supporting characters to appear in
Fun Publications fiction "Gone to Far", a text-based story set on
Transtech Cybertron.
Menasor was one of a large group of Transformers (from several factions and multiple dimensions) who attempted to rebel against the leaders of the "Transtech" dimension's Cybertron. Their uprising failed, and many of the rebels, including Menasor, were incarcerated. Due to his size, Menasor was "mode-locked" and sent to an impound yard.
Toys
- Cybertron Menasor with Heavy Load (2005)
- Cybertron Menasor is depicted in the animated series as being about 58 feet tall. His 8.5 inch tall toy would be about 1/82 scale. This means he's nearly HO scale.
- Came with the Mini-Con, Heavy Load.
References
External links