Battletrap (ROTB)

Battletrap is a Terrorcon from the Rise of the Beasts portion of the Movie continuity family.

"I had more punch at a birthday party."

Menacing, unrelenting, and bloodthirsty, Battletrap is an elite scout and enforcer for the Terrorcons who takes great pride in being part of the most sinister brigade of hunters to ever stalk the universe. He relishes in the fury of battle, eagerly carrying out the orders handed down to him by his leader, Scourge, and dishing out punishments with glee.

Fiction

Rise of the Beasts film

Voice actor: David Sobolov (English), Kenta Miyake (Japanese), Diego Valenzuela (Latin-American Spanish), José García Tos (Spain Spanish), Vanderlan Mendes (Brazilian Portuguese), Gilduin Tissier (European French)

It won't take me that long to rip out your engine!

With the revelation that the Transwarp Key was hidden on Earth, Battletrap, along with Scourge and Nightbird, made planetfall in the ocean near New York City and proceeded to make their way to Ellis Island. After the Key was located, found to be in the possession of two humans, the Autobots arrived and engage the Terrorcons. Battletrap squared off against Bumblebee, Arcee and Mirage, using his chain-flail to devastating effect by hurling a stone pillar and a car at the Autobots. Once the humans who were in possession of the Key exited the museum, Battletrap informed Scourge that he had eyes on their prize. After Scourge subdued Optimus Prime, Battletrap forcefully put his foot down on the Prime's back, holding him down and looking on while Scourge executed Bumblebee. He then prepared to finish off the remaining Autobots before being attacked from above by the arriving Airazor. Satisfied that they had already acquired the Key, Scourge ordered the Terrorcons to fall back.

Shortly after the battle, Battletrap witnessed Scourge communicate with Unicron, as well as the latter's wrath upon discovering that the Terrorcons had only retrieved half of the Transwarp Key.

I'm a truck, you're a tank, how do you expect to beat me?

Battletrap and the Terrorcons then made their way to Peru to locate the other half of the Key. Standing on top of a roof in the city of Cusco, Battletrap looked on while Scourge and Nightbird discussed their next move. Once the Autobots began to mobilize and left the city in pursuit of the Key, Battletrap and the other Terrorcons gave chase, ending up in the rural mountains of Peru. Arcee and Wheeljack appeared and opened fire on the orange Terrorcon. Battletrap used his flail to latch onto Nightbird and spin himself around while still driving, proceeding to launch a barrage of missiles at the pair of Autobots, who narrowly managed to avoid them. Battletrap, turning back around, then grabbed hold of Wheeljack with his tow truck mechanism, throwing him and Arcee off the road and rendering them unable to pursue him further. Shortly after, when Scourge was talking to Optimus across a broken bridge, Battletrap and Nightbird arrived to give him support, but Prime and the Autobots left before an all-out battle could occur.

After Scourge managed to acquire the other half of the Transwarp Key, Battletrap and Nightbird traveled with him to a nearby volcano, where they erected a fortress using the now-united Key and began the process of opening a portal so that Unicron could devour Earth. Soon, however, the Autobots and Maximals arrived to oppose them. Scourge ordered his Terrorcon minions to engage them, which Battletrap eagerly did, running towards the incoming group and firing his gun at them. When the two groups met, Battletrap leaped into the air to engage Optimus Primal. Later on in the battle, Battletrap fired a barrage of bullets at Wheeljack, who took cover behind a large rock with Optimus Prime. Swinging his flail, Battletrap insisted that someone "give him a real fight." His wishes were answered almost immediately when Optimus Primal caught his flail. Pulling it taut, Optimus Prime rushed in and sliced through Battletrap's arm, which Primal then pulled off. Screaming in pain, Battletrap's left leg was then severed by Prime, sending him tumbling to the ground. Just as Prime was about to deliver the final blow, Primal pounced on Battletrap and smashed his head in with his own flail, killing the menacing Terrorcon. Rise of the Beasts

Toys

Studio Series

Mater took a dark turn years after being told he was the last straw in why the Cars franchise went downhill.

• Battletrap (Voyager Class, 2023)

• Movie: Rise of the Beasts
• Hasbro ID number: 99
• TakaraTomy ID number: SS-104
• Accessories: Mace, "Attack at the Museum" backdrop
• Known designers: Sam Smith (Hasbro), Yūya Ōnishi (TakaraTomy)^[1]

A Voyager-scaled release, Studio Series Battletrap converts into a licensed GMC C70 tow truck (with functional dual rear wheels!). The truck mode suffers from exposed robot parts, notably the hands, feet, and shoulder clips. In robot mode, the tow truck crane becomes kibble on his forearms, though it is advertised as being used as extra melee weapons.

Battletrap comes with a backdrop depicting the battle at the museum and with his mace accessory which opens up to wrap around his fist. For storage, the mace can tab onto his robot back and on the crane in truck mode. While not mentioned in the instructions, the mace can connect to a 3 mm peg on either forearm kibble to somewhat mimic the flail attack seen in the film.

(Demonstration with Primal’s chain)

Shortly after the reveal of Studio Series Optimus Primal, Hasbro designer Evan Brooks revealed that, while not entirely intended, the chain accessories included with Primal could be combined with Studio Series Battletrap to better mimic his flail.^[2] This is best done by utilizing the 3 mm connections on Primal’s chains with the aforementioned peg on the arm kibble and port on the mace.

The truck mode lacks secure locking tabs, which cause the rear of the truck to shift around when handling. The rear of the cabin also has a tendency to lift off of its tabs. Due to insufficient clearance, it is necessary to push the hood pieces past each other during transformation into either mode.

As with most Rise of the Beasts figures, Battletrap is based on early concept art, having much thinner proportions, a slightly different face design, and prominently missing the air scoop on his chest. His red-orange windows are also based on early art where he had a glowing interior. Intriguingly, his box render shows him sporting a Decepticon insignia on his forehead.

His instructions are colored Autobot red instead of the blue introduced for later Terrorcons and Maximals. The instructions have you tab his forearms into the roof of the cab, but said tabs were removed on the final product.

• Designer commentary on Studio Series Battletrap from Sam Smith

Rise of the Beasts

Irontrap.

• Battletrap (Power Plus Series, 2023)

• Accessories: Igniter core

Released as part of the Autobots Unite subline for the Rise of the Beasts toyline, "Power Plus Series" Battletrap is an orange redeco of the Bumblebee Energon Igniters Ironhide, transforming from a robot into a 1980's pickup with giant exhaust stacks. As a redeco of a Power Plus series figure, Battletrap is compatible with "energon igniter cores", one of which is included. Inserting a core in his vehicle mode's truck bed deploys weapons on the sides of the truck, and pushing the large trigger in activates a spring-powered motor, propelling him forward.

Bizarrely, this toy's package art depicts a digitally recolored Ironhide instead of Battletrap's own image!

Notes

• Battletrap's alternate mode was first revealed via Steven Caple Jr.'s Instagram account on 6 October 2021, along with the other two senior Terrorcons, Scourge and Nightbird.
• Despite being a Terrorcon, his promo artwork noticeable on the box of his Studio Series toy, features a Decepticon insignia on his forehead. In the movie, it is indeed a Terrorcon insignia.
• Battletrap is the only one of the three main Terrorcons (and by extension, the only Transformer excluding the Sweeps) not to be referred by name even once on screen.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Battletrap (バトルトラップ Batorutorappu)
• Mandarin: Quāntào (圈套, "Trap")

References