#tankor

One spark - Two personalities - Mixed Media

In Beast Wars, Rhinox was a strong, smart, and empathetic hero.

By Beast Machines, he was captured and his spark extracted and placed into a Vehicon general to serve Megatron. He was called Tankor. He was eventually freed of his programming, but his time had changed him. He now believed that Megatron's plans were correct except that he should be in charge of them instead.

Tankor & Obsidian Two-Pack ( Universe 2003 )

Obsidian

Function : Aerial Combat

“ Control the air and you control the battle. Control the mind, you control the war “

An Autobot general from the Great War, Obsidian was known for his battlefield strategies. Leading many successful campaigns against Decepticon incursions on Cybertron, he was decorated with the highest military honors. When the Predacon leader, Megatron, decimated the populace by forcibly removing their Sparks, including Obsidian’s, it was only a matter of time before Obsidian could gain a measure of revenge. Reoutfitted in a sleek helicopter form, Obsidian feigned loyalty to Megatron, while plotting the Predacon leader’s downfall. Recognizing his own frailties, Obsidian paired up with the strongest of Megatron’s generals, Tankor. After months of careful planning, these dangerous partners succeeded where many others had failed – Megatron was terminated and Obsidian usurped power for himself. Using Tankor as his enforcer, the former Autobot quelled uprisings with lethal force and held his home planet in an iron grip of fear and tyranny. The dark god, Unicron, saw a benefit to such single-mindedness and plucked Tankor and Obsidian to serve him at the far reaches of the universe. In copter mode, several heat-seeking missiles, capable of penetrating 800 meters underground, are Obsidian’s primary weapon. Although an expert in low-flying aerial combat, Obsidian would rather use his wits and intellect to defeat his opponents

Strength - 5.0, Intelligence - 8.5, Speed - 8.1, Endurance - 5.1, Rank - 9.0, Courage - 8.1, Firepower - 6.3, Skill - 9.5. Total : 59.6

Tankor

Function : Enforcer

“ TANKOR smash ! Smash good ! “

A veritable powerhouse, Tankor is one of the strongest of Unicron’s evil generals. Unfortunately, he is also the dumbest. Has a unique partnership with his fellow Decepticon, Obsidian. Serves as the muscle in this deadly duo and will instantly flatten any enemy who chose to ignorantly cross his path. His sole purpose is to demolish everything and anything that stands in his master’s way. Served the Predacon leader turned Cybertron despot, Megatron, before overthrowing him at the bidding of his partner, Obsidian. After being transported away to the farthest reaches of the universe to do Unicron’s bidding, he was easily convinced to serve his new, more powerful master. Tankor utilizes all of his awesome weaponry to keep dissidents in line. He wields a flamethrower in tank mode, while head-mounted energy lasers top off an assortment of heavy weaponry in robot mode. He heavily relies upon his partner for guidance and instruction. Separating him from Obsidian, who serves as the brain to his brawn, is the most-effective way of taking advantage of his low intelligence and thus besting this formidable opponent

Strength - 10.0, Intelligence - 1.0, Speed - 6.0, Endurance - 8.0, Rank - 9.0, Courage - 9.0, Firepower - 10.0, Skill - 7.0. Total : 60.0

Transmetal Waspinator Entry ( Beast Wars IDW Sourcebook #4, 2008 )

The indestructible Spark of the Decepticon Starscream once possessed Waspinator and upon being defeated by the Maximals wandered through space and time. Starscream eventually entered an alternate timeline, whereupon he possessed that universe’s Waspinator. When a Quantum Surge struck the alternate Earth, Waspinator’s form changed into a Transmetal with Starscream using his influence to shape the vehicle mode into a jet fighter resembling his old vehicle form. The two Sparks within Waspinator are constantly struggling for control of their shared body. This sometimes causes him to argue with himself using two distinct voices. Secretly, though, Waspinator enjoys the enhanced skills Starscream brings to his role as a flier. In his new vehicle form, Waspinator can fly at speeds up to Mach 3 with a maximum altitude of 350,000 feet. His hand-held rifle fires null rays that disrupt the flow of electricity

Ask Vector Prime Facebook Q&A ( August 16, 2016 )

Q : Dear Vector Prime

Whatever became of the reality where Unicron abducted his Minion generals Obsidian and Tankor from ?

A : Dear Drastic Dictator

So, that would be...let me see...ah, here we go. Primax 208.06 Zeta. Perhaps I had best share a bit of its history. The Beast Wars here proceeded much as they did in the Primax 496.22 Alpha, until Starscream’s mutant Spark arrived. This version had lived through this scenario once before and was ready for Primal’s gambit. From here, history took a different track. The hybrid Starscream / Waspinator entity pressed their advantage and the Maximals were defeated. The Vok responded by attempting to sterilize their experiment, prompting Megatron to maneuver Blackarachnia to inadvertently destroy their weapon while trying to escape the planet

The resulting Quantum Surge mutated the original crew of the Darkside into Transmetal forms. The only exception was Scorponok, who was undergoing repairs in the CR tank when the surge hit due to injuries sustained gaining entry into the Vok bio-dome. With a powerful new body at his command and two newly-recruited Fuzors bolstering his cause, Waspscream made his move. Megatron and his loyalists, Scorponok and Inferno, were captured, though shortly thereafter Silverbolt realized that he had little in common with either faction and struck out on his own

Waspscream convinced Tarantulas to decode Megatron’s Golden Disk for him by promising to make him his second once they reached Cybertron and usurped the Tripredacus Council. With Waspscream’s detailed future knowledge and the codes in the Disk, he easily secured an Autobot shuttle and stockpiled it with Energon. Not wanting any loose ends, he scoured the lands for Silverbolt. In the process, he uncovered Protoform X and forced the creature to his service, though not before it offlined Quickstrike. Eventually Silverbolt was located and captured, enabling Waspscream and his Predacon crew to make way to Cybertron. Megatron, Waspscream’s main prize, was humiliatingly secured to the outside of the shuttle

That arrogance would prove a costly mistake, as Megatron managed to break free during the journey. He exited decades ahead of Waspscream’s crew, his mind damaged by the uncontrolled exit from transwarp space. He used his knowledge of the future to create a transformation virus and, shortly before Waspscream was due to arrive in his present, unleashed it on the unsuspecting population. He then began harvesting their Sparks and turning their shells into Vehicons

He faced unexpected resistance from Waspscream’s crew when they arrived. Megatron had trusted his virus to disable them but Waspscream, Terrorsaur, Tarantulas and Protoform X all wore Transmetal bodies and would prove resistant to the virus. Only the prisoners, Silverbolt, Inferno and Scorponok, were subdued. Megatron offered his former minions a chance to once again serve him. Inferno leapt at the opportunity to once again serve his queen but Scorponok balked at the destruction Megatron had wrought to Maximal and Predacon alike. Megatron used his Spark anyway, stripping its ego and implanting it in the body of his new drone, Tankor, commander of the Tank drones. Inferno was given command of the Scrapmetal drones. Silverbolt, too, was used, becoming the Aerodrone commander Jetstorm

Waspscream and his Predacons were drawn to the Oracle and granted new, technorganic bodies. They waged a valiant Spark War against Megatron, eventually liberating Silverbolt and prompting Megatron to unleash a new general upon the conflict, the former Autobot military genius Obsidian. This would prove a costly mistake for Megatron, for this Obsidian was not tempered by his consort and would eventually betray his commander and seize control for himself

Inferno defected to the side of the Predacons, wanting nothing but revenge for the usurper who murdered his queen and brought a quarter of the Vehicons with him. Obsidian and Tankor waged a brutal war against the growing Predacon uprising, for they had been joined by the survivor Nightscream and the returning spacefarers Botanica and Depth Charge. Other resistance groups, too, rampaged across the planet ; the Wreckers, the Mutants, the Dinobots. Obsidian turned to increasingly barbarous tactics to quell the uprisings ; Silverbolt and Terrorsaur died screaming at his command. It was at this point that Unicron intervened, scooping up all three Vehicon generals for his own use. Obsidian and Tankor, reluctantly, served the Lord of Nothingness but Inferno couldn’t be tamed, wanting nothing more than the obliteration of the two “ traitors to the colony “. Thus it was that he, upon his liberation, became a Child of Primus, oddly enough fighting alongside an alternate universe version of himself for the forces of light. How strange and heartening that sometimes even the most fanatically dark Sparks can find a path to redemption

As for the reality left behind, the Vehicons, deprived of their leadership, proved ineffectual at best. Waspscream, Rodimus Primal, Magmatron and Icebird formed a new High Council to attempt to govern Cybertron, full of intrigue and alliances. Of course, their story doesn’t end there ; it never ends. But perhaps this is as good a place as any to conclude the tale

Q : Rodimus Primal ? Can you say anymore about this individual ? Did he have a beast form ?

A : He did...an enormous Transmetal gorilla, as well as two vehicle modes

Q : So what happened to this Obsidian and Tankor ? Did they survive the end of the Universe War ?

A : To the best of my knowledge, they did not, though where Unicron is concerned, who can be certain ? Tankor fell at the hands of Rhinox, which has a certain symmetry to it

Obsidian plummeted into the corruption that was the Angolmois ocean of Unicron’s Pit. If there is some small measure of mercy, he fell besides a version of Strika, his long-time companion ; at least they may be united in death

Q : Are Nemesis Strika and Blast Charge from this timestream as well ?

A : The Strika who seemingly perished with this Obsidian was abducted from Primax 704.08 Gamma. Perhaps my memory crystals are decohering but I do not seem to recall a Blast Charge participating in the Universe War

Q : How’d Depth Charge and Protoform X handle being on the same side ?