Scorponok (G1)
From Transformers Wiki
| The name or term "Scorponok" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Scorponok (disambiguation). |
- Scorponok is a Decepticon Headmaster and occasional Titan from the Generation 1 continuity family.
Dangerous, wily, and cunning, Scorponok possesses both a keen mind and a great deal of raw, savage power. He is equally comfortable with maverick stratagems and brute force, though he's built more for the latter: his animalistic alternate form bristles with weapons, from multiple paired cannons and the dreaded electro-stinger in his tail, to the crushing grip of his mighty claws. These traits combine to make him both a terrifying foe on the battlefield and a serious contender for leadership of the Decepticons. Often, only his arch-foe Fortress Maximus is capable of standing against him.
He is sometimes partnered with Zarak; this often takes the form of binary bonding, where the Headmaster Zarak becomes Scorponok's head. Alternatively, Scorponok himself can be the diminutive Headmaster who bonds with a lifeless but giant transtector, in which state he is known as MegaZarak—or BlackZarak.
| “ | Yes, perhaps I will share my power with you—it is in my best interest—but beware—when possessed of such power all other concerns fade. Compassion. Mercy. Perhaps even daughters. | ” |
| —Scorponok makes clear to Zarak how their "partnership" works, "Love and Steel!" | ||
Fiction
Marvel Comics continuity
Marvel The Transformers comics
Some time in the past, Cyclonus and Scourge were displaced from the year 2008 and fell under Scorponok’s command. The Legacy of Unicron! Four million years after Optimus Prime and Megatron had left Cybertron, Scorponok and his Decepticons levelled an Autobot city and rounded up the survivors for execution via smelting pool. However, Fortress Maximus and the Autobots ambushed the squad; driven back by their righteous fury, Scorponok ordered his men to fall back and fight another day. Ring of Hate!
When Scorponok's men breached Maximus's base in the Manganese Mountains, they discovered that the entire complex had been abandoned. By pure coincidence, they received a transmission from the corrupt Nebulan governor Zarak, who informed them that Fortress Maximus and his Autobots had recently arrived on Nebulos and requested their assistance in getting rid of the invaders—unaware of Scorponok's true nature, or his plan to conquer this new world. Once they reached the planet, Scorponok found himself made uneasy by the lack of visible Autobot activity and wondered if the aliens might be physically superior to the Cybertronians. These thoughts vanished when he first laid eyes upon the puny and soft Lord Zarak; now convinced that the Nebulans were completely beneath notice, Scorponok bullied Zarak into revealing the location of Fortress Maximus by roughing up the organic to assert dominance. Doomsday for Nebulos
Upon learning that Maximus had surrendered himself and four of his followers to ensure that the other Autobots could live in peace, Scorponok and his troops laid siege to the Nebulan capital of Koraja, blasting away at its newly erected fortifications when the Nebulans refused their demands to surrender the Autobots in their custody. Before the villains broke through, however, the city gates opened to reveal the five Autobots, who'd formed a binary bond with the native Nebulans and upgraded themselves into combat-ready “Headmasters”. As Brainstorm and Chromedome effortlessly penetrated Scorponok's defenses, the Decepticon leader ordered another retreat. Broken Glass! Stylor's Story
Scorponok and his troops began investigating ways to dispose cleanly of their Nebulan collaborators, such as dumping them into space inside anti-gravity-powered polymer alloy bubbles. In the midst of this research, Apeface and Snapdragon returned from a failed conquest, defeated by two of the Autobot Headmasters. As Scorponok berated his underlings for their failure, Zarak outlined the advantages of the Autobot Headmaster technology and eventually convinced Scorponok and five other Decepticons to undergo the process. Using Zarak's daughter Llyra as bait, the Decepticons lured the Autobots into a trap, where they encased a group of Nebulans inside the floating polymer bubbles. Zarak was overwhelmed by Scorponok's raw power and quickly forgot himself—even the sight of his own daughter in peril prompted but a moment's hesitation before Scorponok's personality reasserted himself. While the Autobots were busy saving the Nebulans, Scorponok and his troops ambushed the heroes and took them captive. Love and Steel!
Zarak and his allies continued their campaign to drive the Autobots off Nebulos—although he used the planet's media to spin every battle as a victory for the Nebulans, each new conflict against their foes annihilated irreplaceable Nebulon wonders, including the Mercury Gardens of Melanossus, and the Nursery. In a conversation with a captive Galen, Zarak admitted that Scorponok's malign influence was affecting his mind and pushing him into committing terrible deeds he'd never do otherwise. Zarak briefly broke free of Scorponok's control to free the Autobots and inform them of a distant world called “Earth”, but the Nebulan was soon back atop his partner and urging his troops onward to destruction. Brothers in Armor!!
Scorponok kidnapped Pointblank, Crosshairs, Sureshot and their respective partners, ostensibly to perfect the Targetmaster process. When the Autobot Headmasters attempted to free their comrades, Scorponok sprang his trap and abducted Highbrow, as it was the Headmaster process that he couldn't perfect. Scorponok was dismayed to find that Highbrow and Gort's mental disunity matched that of his own Headmasters, but realised that the process was sound—the issue lay with the compatibility between the Headmaster partners themselves. Before he could eliminate the now-useless Highbrow, Chromedome rescued his comrade and drove Scorponok off. Worlds Apart!
Thanks to a bug previously planted in the Autobots' headquarters, the Decepticons learned that their enemies had manufactured a fuel convertor which would allow them travel to Earth. Scorponok approached Fortress Maximus and challenged him to a death match; whoever emerged victorious would be declared triumphant in the greater conflict. In the ensuing fight, Scorponok secured an early advantage by clamping his pincers onto his opponent's leg in mid-transformation, but Maximus shook himself free and struck Scorponok's most vulnerable spot: Zarak. Scorponok transformed to robot mode to better protect his Nebulan partner, and once more grabbed Maximus in a vice. Kord turned the tables again by transforming from his Headmaster mode, and blinding Scorponok with his pistol. However, this constituted cheating by the rules Scorponok had established before the duel's start, and the Decepticon audience opened fire. It mattered little, as by this time Triggerhappy had managed to secure the convertor. The Decepticons fled and made their way off-world, forcing the Autobots to follow. The Final Conflict
Fortress Maximus and the other Nebulan Autobots—aware that the Decepticons would pursue them offworld and leave the benighted planet to recover—followed a distress signal to Earth. Brothers in Armor!! By the time that they’d arrived on Earth, Zarak and Scorponok's minds had blurred together as the increasingly ruthless Zarak assumed the dominant position in their partnership—while Zarak retained his own intellect and free will, he demanded to be addressed as “Scorponok” when the two assumed their combined robot mode. This new iteration of Scorponok tracked the signal to the abandoned Autobot base inside Mount St. Hilary, but found only the human Spike Witwicky. When Fortress Maximus and the Autobots returned to the cave, Scorponok took Spike hostage; in the ensuing battle, Scorponok triggered a rockfall that successfully killed Galen. To Scorponok's dismay, however, Spike took Galen's place, combined with Cerebros and Fortress Maxixmus, and forced Scorponok into a withdrawal. Trial by Fire!
Through stealth and subterfuge, Scorponok began establishing a beachhead on Earth: hoping to disguise the robotic natures of his soldiers, Scorponok and his followers seized control of a genetics lab and used its technology to upgrade six of his followers into Pretenders. It was during this operation that Scorponok first crossed paths with Optimus Prime within a computer-simulated world, who used a paralyzing data surge to force the Decepticon leader back into his own body. Pretender to the Throne! To prepare for their eventual landing, Scorponok sent Skullgrin to Earth to establish a fuel depot. Monstercon from Mars! In an effort to wipe out the Autobots, Scorponok established the anti-Transformer Z Foundation, used Zarak and the other Nebulan Headmasters to pose as frontmen, and hired the “Roadjammers" to test out some paralyzing "jammer" devices. However, when the mercenaries turned on their employers, Zarak intervened personally by transforming into Scorponok. However, the Roadjammer Felix, had managed to modify the jammer to also take control of its victim's motor functions; beaten down by his own minions, Zarak's emergency “anti-jammer” freed the Decepticon Headmasters from their control but also released the Autobot prisoners they’d taken. Ca$h and Car-nage!
When Scorponok sought to have Mindwipe brainwash the Autobot Highbrow, his plans couldn't have gone more wrong. Mindwipe neglected to hypnotise Highbrow's partner Gort, and the Nebulan managed to regain enough control of Highbrow's body to rip Scorponok's head clean off his shoulders. The sudden separation without any mental command caused both Scorponok and Zarak to black out, and Highbrow returned to base with Scorponok's head in his grip. All in the Minds!
Highbrow found himself unable to kill Scorponok in cold blood despite his desire to end the threat he posed, but as he ruminated on the matter outside the Autobot base, he was attacked by a group of Decepticons who had come to reclaim the head of their leader. The chronal crisis known as the "Time Wars" soon erupted, during which Scorponok was reunited with his head and reactivated, at which point he demanded revenge for his decapitation. At this point, Highbrow had been shunted to Limbo by several other Autobots traveling from the future. Not finding himself particularly choosy over who suffered his wrath, Scorponok happily directed his anger towards Ultra Magnus instead. However, his own troops were mass-substituted to make room for a group of Decepticon time-travelers; without the bulk of his loyalists, Scorponok was forced to postpone his revenge, and joined with the various Transformers of two worlds, two factions and two eras against the fighting-mad Galvatron. Despite his newfound allies cautioning him against leaping headlong into combat against the future Decepticon, Scorponok refused to listen. This earned him a sound beating from his opponent and forced his remaining troops to carry him away from the battlefield. Time Wars
Not long afterwards, Scorponok was contacted by Starscream, representative of another faction of Decepticons operating on Earth under the command of Ratbat. Scorponok immediately brought his ship to their headquarters in the Arctic, only for Piranacon to attack their vessel. Starscream soon arrived to smooth things over before any damage could be done, but relations were off to a rocky start. Things got worse when Scorponok revealed his partially fleshling nature to Ratbat's group, worse still as a tour of Ratbat's base seemed to be a pointless delaying tactic, and even worse when he learned of Ratbat's plan to seize the legendary power source known as the Underbase. Furious that Ratbat had clearly never intended to cooperate with his group, Scorponok attempted to lead his troops away, only to find his path barred by the Predacons. A battle soon erupted between the two sides, and only the sight of Starscream stealing his ship in the midst of the conflict caused Scorponok to call a cease-fire. Cold War!
The arrival of the Autobots caused another battle to break out, this time with the Decepticons allied against their common foe. However, Ratbat and Fortress Maximus called for another truce and united their forces against Starscream. Together, the alliance successfully prevented Starscream from completely absorbing the Underbase, but the morsel of power the Seeker obtained still granted him unimaginable might, and allowed him to destroy Scorponok's ship before heading back to Earth. Although Optimus Prime brought everyone aboard the Ark to discuss a strategy, but Scorponok found the idea of allying with Optimus detestable, and was subsequently disgusted by Optimus Prime's apparent cowardice in refusing to join the attack teams against Starscream as he rampaged across the planet. Scorponok was co-commander of an attack team in Tokyo, where an offhand comment by Grimlock caused him to realize what Optimus Prime must be up to. Abandoning the fight, Scorponok returned to the Ark aboard the Autobot shuttle that had ferried him to Earth. He found that Ratbat had the same idea; the two confronted Optimus Prime, who had just launched a rocket into space to bring the Underbase to Earth.
Incensed by this apparent treachery, Scorponok blasted Prime, then killed Ratbat when the other Decepticon attempted to seize the Underbase for himself. Rocketing into space, Scorponok was nearly in range of the Underbase, when Optimus Prime—now recovered and with his Powermaster partner back in place—pushed him out of its way. The two leaders watched in horrified fascination as Starscream arrived, absorbed the entire Underbase, and promptly self-destructed. An impressed Scorponok decided to prolong their truce long enough for both sides to gather up their fallen; with both Ratbat and Starscream gone, Scorponok's command of the Earthbound Decepticons was assured. Dark Star When the truce ended, Scorponok attempted to assassinate his old foe Fortress Maximus by having Carnivac and Snarler try to kill Spike Witwicky. The Man in the Machine! In return, Scorponok granted Pretender shells to them, as well as Catilla, who was monitoring the mission. Survivors!
Scorponok, accompanied by Mindwipe and Weirdwolf, rendezvoused with the mercenary Dealer in order to purchase Autobot battle plans the mercenary had stolen. But as they were about to depart, they were attacked by Optimus Prime. "Dealer" was actually Doubledealer, and had sold them out to their enemies! (Double) Deal of the Century!
Upon learning that a spare copy of Optimus Prime's mind had been stashed away in an Alternate Reality, Inc. warehouse, Scorponok tasked Darkwing and Dreadwind to steal it for him. He also sent off the Combaticons to secure two armed warheads and components from an advanced guidance computer at the Rutter U.S. Military Base. Both groups succeeded in their tasks, with the Powermasters also bringing back the Autobot Getaway and his Nebulan partner Rev as prisoners! Scorponok was happy to gloat to the pair on how his plan would culminate in Optimus Prime's demise. Using all of the stolen technology, Scorponok built a "smart missile," which would be able to track down Optimus wherever he went and avoid all obstacles that came its way. He even made sure to equip the device with a camera, so that he and his troops would be able to watch the Autobot leader's final moments! However, Scorponok made a fatal mistake in leaving Getaway unsupervised. The master escape artist freed both himself and Rev, and through his efforts, the missile was reprogrammed into a dud. Prime Bomb!
After finally establishing a planetside headquarters outside New Jersey, Scorponok entrusted his Pretender troops with an electrostator device and a Stormmaker Station to collect the electrical discharges of an artificially generated storm and convert them into energon cubes, but the Off Road Patrol foiled his plan. King Con! Zarak continued to function as a covert Decepticon operative, and allowed the Decepticons to counter the growing popularity of Roadhandler in New York City. When the Nebulan witnessed the Autobot partaking in a professional wrestling match, he combined with Scorponok and together they contacted Cybertron to summon Micromasters of their own to meet him in the ring. The Interplanetary Wrestling Championship!
Scorponok found himself drawn into a battle at MacDill Air Force Base by his newfest recruits, the Air Strike Patrol. Announcing his arrival in no uncertain terms, he attacked the Autobots who were harassing his troops, only to have those same troops cut and run. Optimus retaliated in a cold fury that startled even Scorponok, making him realize that something bigger was at play behind the scenes. The Resurrection Gambit! After the Autobot leader cooled down, he and Zarak discussed a second alliance to forestall a greater threat; remembering Prime's selfless actions during the recent Underbase crisis, Zarak hesitantly accepted the offer, before the Pretender-enhanced Starscream arrived. All the Familiar Faces! Though too stunned to react at first, Zarak was shaken out of his stupor by Optimus Prime and used Scorponok's weaponry to blast Starscream. The Autobots and Decepticons eventually overpowered him, and Starscream begged Scorponok to take him back under his command. Skin Deep Fallen Star! Badly in need of additional troops and firepower, Scorponok agreed, but this decision proved to be very unpopular with his troops. The Primal Scream It eventually cost him the loyalty of Triggerhappy and Mindwipe, who deserted him after Starscream went missing again. Eye of the Storm
Optimus Prime formally offered his surrender in hopes of making a new force to combat the Dark God Unicron. Although Scorponok initially planned to betray Prime's trust to bolster his own leadership position, but Prime eventually convinced him of the Chaos-Bringer's threat and persuaded him to unite their forces—just as a contingent of rebel Decepticons under Shockwave's command attacked Scorponok's base. Surrender!
Scorponok arose from the wreckage of his base and quickly put down most of the rebels. His battle with Shockwave spilled into New York Harbor and across the river into Battery Park, until the arrival of Optimus, Nightbeat, and the Neo-Knights interrupted the fight. ...All This and Civil War 2 Though initially scornful of the humans' efforts, Scorponok was downed by two of them and was nearly killed by Circuit Breaker. The battle came to a conclusive end when Circuit Breaker used all her power to knock out Shockwave, and Scorponok agreed to stop fighting. Suddenly, they, along with every other Transformer on Earth, were transported by Primus to Cybertron. Out of Time!
On the Transformers' homeworld, Primus spoke directly to his children and informed them that they would play a part in the final battle against his eternal nemesis, Unicron. As Armageddon loomed, Scorponok confessed his fears of dying to Optimus Prime, who reassured him that there was no shame in it. Scorponok vowed that he would be proud to go down fighting alongside Optimus... which he nearly did, when the two came under attack from a group of Unicron cultists. Though Scorponok considered leaving Prime to die, his Decepticon honor convinced him to rescue his foe from certain death; despite his ferocity, Scorponok spared one of the cultists at Optimus Prime's behest. The Void!
Unicron arrived at Cybertron mere seconds later, and the final battle began. Scorponok was at first paralyzed by the sheer size of their foe, and later further terrified when Optimus Prime was batted aside with ease. Suddenly faced with his own mortality, Scorponok came to a terrible realization—there was no Scorponok anymore, just Lord Zarak, a tired old man trapped inside a body that was no longer his. Despite this setback, Zarak rose to the challenge by calling upon Scorponok's Decepticon heritage, and viciously attacked the planet-eater until a stream of fire mortally wounded him. As he lay dying, Optimus took a moment to assure Zarak that he'd done well, before he finally perished. On the Edge of Extinction! His still-smoldering remains were seen in the aftermath of the battle with Unicron. Still Life!
Earthforce
Mindwipe was thrown out of the Decepticons for trying and failing to hypnotise Scorponok. The Living Nightlights!
Marvel UK future timelines
In an alternate 1991, near the end of the Decepticon Civil War between the forces of Scorponok, Megatron, and Shockwave, Scorponok found himself separated from his troops and hounded by Megatron's Air Strike Patrol. He attracted the attention of the Autobots by rampaging through a human settlement, and immediately surrendered to Hot Rod, leader of the Autobot unit. As Autobot ethics required the protection of prisoners, Scorponok had maneuvered Hot Rod's team into fighting his battle for him. With the frustrated Autobots and Megatron's Decepticons focused on each other, Scorponok was free to walk away. Aspects of Evil!
Transformers Comic-Magazin
Scorponok was present when the Decepticons unleashed a robotic hell-beast known as 'King Con' on New York. However, Optimus Prime rented a helicopter to fly a banner announcing huge raw oil deposit finds in the Rocky Mountains. After a short hesitation, the Decepticons retreated to pursue these findings. New York — A City Sinking in Terror
Ask Vector Prime
In his quest to grow more powerful, the Scorponok of Primax 489.0 Zeta used a mysterious dimensional bridge that had appeared over a Blackrock Industries oil spill in Alaska to search time and space for new power sources. He was able to connect to Horus in the Argos Cluster and absorb his power, only to be overwhelmed and mutated alongside his binary-bond partner, driving both insane and merging them with the aircraft carrier they were using as a base. The resulting monster was dubbed "Majin Zarak". Ask Vector Prime, 2015/07/10
Marvel Generation 2 comic
Years after the final battle against the Decepticons on Klo, Optimus Prime recalled Scorponok as one of the many "old ghosts" they’d laid to rest. War Without End!
Classics
While working to rebuild Cybertron, the Mini-Con Broadside discovered Scorponok and Zarak's remains and studied their databanks. Their merged memories inspired Broadside and his followers to turn against Modus Prime and his followers. The New World
An alternate-reality Ratbat demanded to know the location of his counterpart, only to be informed by Frenzy and Rumble that Scorponok had killed their Ratbat. Recordicons #11
Regeneration One
Long ago, Scorponok once faced off against Grimlock and the Dinobots. Much later, while binary-bonded with Zarak, their mental symbiosis allowed the brutish Scorponok to absorb his partner's scientific expertise and, eventually, evolve into an erudite warrior-scholar. Natural Selection, Part One After the end of the war, the Headmasters' original heads had been left behind on Nebulos, and Nebulan scientists led by Borx initiated “Project Lazarus”, an attempt to rebuild functioning bodies for the five Autobots. Despite some early setbacks, Borx remained optimistic, and integrated data from Zarak's old headquarters into a new set of bodies. Loose Ends, Part 2
However, Zarak had taken the precaution of implanting a ghost protocol in Scorponok's original head, still moldering in the Grax Communications Facility—when Borx attempted to decrypt his database, Scorponok reactivated, secretly took control of Project Lazarus by brainwashing the scientists, and ordered the enthralled organics to construct a new body for himself. After returning to life, Scorponok turned his attention to studying the Cybertronian genome for what Zarak once called the “warrior gene”, the genetic sequence that differentiated Autobot from Decepticon. Natural Selection, Part One
When Grimlock—seeking to cure himself and his fellow Dinobots from the effects of Nucleon—arrived at Koraja's spaceport, Scorponok ambushed the Dinobot leader and brought him to his hidden base. Loose Ends, Part 5 After explaining the circumstances behind his resurrection and his change in personality, Scorponok made the Dinobot commander an offer: if he and his Dinobots were to join Scorponok, not only would they be spared, but they would be given new bodies; as an incentive, Scorponok even had a duplicate of Grimlock's original body prepared. However, it took weeks of captivity to finally break Grimlock; after a simulated encounter with his fellow Dinobots, shaken Grimlock relented and agreed to serve the Decepticon. Having spent the interim studying the effects of Nucleon on Grimlock's systems, a triumphant Scorponok unveiled what he called the “Gene Key”, a device that could reprogram Autobots into Decepticons by switching the warrior gene on or off. Natural Selection, Part One
Scorponok demonstrated his Gene Key on three of the former Autobot Headmasters Brainstorm, Hardhead, and Highbrow. Once activated, the trio attacked Grimlock, but the newly restored Dinobot was able to disable them. Scorponok, satisfied that the Gene Key worked, ordered them to depart for Cybertron. Grimlock's shuttle arrived at the Cybertropolis Spaceport, where he was taken into custody under the orders of temporary Autobot commander Hot Rod. While the Autobots were distracted by Grimlock's arrival and the return of his ability to transform, a second shuttle landed in the Badlands, from which Brainstorm, Hardhead and Highbrow disembarked. The altered trio made their way to the Iacon Civil Defense Hub and cleared the way for Scorponok. Natural Selection, Part Two Scorponok arrived up at Fort Scyk to meet with the Decepticons there, intending to rally them to his cause. However, few were convinced by his words; when Misfire pointed out that they were under Soundwave's command, Scorponok killed his former subordinate on the spot as a demonstration of his authority.
With Optimus Prime still on Earth, Ultra Magnus and his crew still in space aboard the Valiant, and Hot Rod searching underground for the Primus chamber, the Autobots in Iacon found themselves overwhelmed by their Key-altered brethren. Grimlock was out looking for the Dinobots when Brainstorm passed on Scorponok's order to return to the Civil Defense Hub. Back at the Hub, Grimlock demanded that Scorponok complete his side of their bargain and provide new bodies for the Dinobots, but Scorponok had other plans—at least one Autobot, Punch, was immune to the effects of the Gene Key, and so Scorponok ordered Grimlock to execute him. When Grimlock rebelled, Scorponok revealed his failsafe crystal that gave him absolute control over Grimlock's new body, and incapacitated the Dinobot leader. Scorponok then communicated with Perceptor, who had begun construction of a giant Gene Key at the Sonic Canyons, one capable of converting every Autobot on Cybertron at once! Natural Selection, Part Three
Scorponok headed to the Sonic Canyons to supervise the completion of the Key, where he explained his plan: when everyone on Cybertron had been converted into a Decepticon, Primus's grand plan of unity would finally come to fruition and Scorponok would receive his just due as the architect of peace. Perceptor countered this bold proclamation by suggesting that, as chaos was the natural order of things, perhaps the schism that led to millennia of civil war was part of Primus's plan all along; despite his insistence that he'd evolved beyond mindless aggression, Scorponok could barely contain his rage at being challenged. When the Valiant dropped out of hyperspace and contacted Cybertron for landing instructions, Pounce and Wingspan contacted Scorponok for direction. He had them provide the Autobot cruiser with a flight plan, then used the planetary defenses to blow the ship out of the sky. Natural Selection, Part Four
Grimlock and Grapple and their teams stormed the Civil Defense Hub, taking the control room from Pounce and Wingspan. Grapple set out to recover the data on Scorponok's new technologies, but also discovered that the incoming Valiant had been targeted by the defense systems. At the canyons, Perceptor announced another delay in the activation of the Gene Key caused by a minor technical issue, which was enough to send Scorponok into a rage and knock Roadblock into the canyons. Scorponok continued to rant as the other Decepticons watched with silent concern, only for Grimlock to show up on a sky-sled and attack Scorponok.
Scorponok, thrilled to have an opponent, transformed and blasted Grimlock off his sled. He then subdued Grimlock with his failsafe crystal, and ordered Perceptor to activate the Gene Key—only to discover that the Key had reverted the Autobots back to normal! As it turned out, Grimlock's betrayal went back to his encounter with Perceptor; he'd never actually used the Gene Key on the scientist, who'd merely pretended to go along with Scorponok's plan to sabotage his grand scheme. An enraged Scorponok prepared to attack Perceptor, but Grimlock jumped him from behind and ordered the Dinobots to strike. A fierce battle ensued on the bridge over the canyons—as the bridge collapsed, Grimlock refused to be rescued; the two plummeted into the canyon, grappling with one another all the while. Natural Selection, Part Five
Transformers '84
After Megatron was lost aboard the Ark, Scorponok, Straxus, and Thunderwing formed an alliance to wipe out the remaining Autobots on Cybertron. There was a degree of contentiousness between the three about divvying up personal territories, with Scorponok in particular warning Straxus not to attempt laying claim to any of the land conquered under his banner. Secrets & Lies #3
American Generation 1 cartoon continuity
The Transformers cartoon
- Voice actor: Stephen Keener (English), Eiji Itō (Japanese), Fang Shuqiao (Chinese), Hans-Rainer Müller (German), Georges Atlas (European French)
Scorponok was a gigantic Headmaster robot built from scratch by Lord Zarak, the secret ruler of Nebulos, upon learning of the Transformers. Working from the Headmaster process designed by the Autobot Brainstorm and later applied to his allies in the Hive and the Decepticons, Zarak used his mental powers to reconstruct the Hive's entire city into a robotic body for him to binary bond with. The Rebirth, Part 2 With Scorponok under his command, Zarak was able to retrieve the key to the Plasma Energy Chamber from the Autobots and carry the Decepticon forces back to Cybertron to reunite with Galvatron. In the end, a bolt of plasma energy zapped Scorponok in his city mode, launching the massive Headmaster (and the collected Decepticons inside) far out into space. The Rebirth, Part 3
Wings Universe
Under the control of the elder Zarak, Scorponok fought countless battles against Galvatron in the hope to seize power, until he eventually passed away and bequeathed Scorponok to his son, Olin Zarak. As the new Scorponok, Olin eventually found himself under Cannonball’s employ. He worked as a manual laborer aboard the Tidal Wave, but continued to long for glory. Worried that he suffered mental instability due to Scorponok still being attuned to his father’s brainwaves rather than his own, Olin planned to have Dr. Vez recalibrate the machine... but not until he could be sure he could fully trust the doctor. While Olin insisted that the Scorponok exo-suit was not an intelligent being in its own right, Tornado expressed doubts about this statement and swore that a malign intelligence was silently observing him from within the mechanical scorpion, even when Olin was separated from it.
After the creature from "Demon's Maw" caused serious damage to the Tidal Wave, Scorponok and his band of laborers were tasked with rebuilding the ship under Ferak’s supervision. He was absent from the Star Seekers’ attack on Ventax II, having instead been tasked in procuring a large energy production device from a building, but later helped Ferak upgrade the Tidal Wave's transwarp engines in anticipation for Cannonball's greatest heist; robbing Cybertron of all of its energy... in the distant future! Tornado - Decepticon Saboteur
After using advanced transwarp mathematics to travel through time, Cannonball led Scorponok and the Star Seekers on a raid of the future Autobot outpost Galadria to access its space bridge nexus. Warping into the heart of Unicron's severed head, Cannonball intended to use the planet-eater's systems to drain Cybertron dry of energon. During the raid, Olin discovered the Cybertronian Knight Devcon spying on them, and combined with Scorponok to detain him. As more Cybertronian Knights came to oppose the Star Seekers, Brimstone lent his rail gun mode to Scorponok to ward them off. During the fight, Scorponok was knocked out by Flareup and captured alongside the rest of the crew. Hoist the Flag
Tornado's log indicated that Scorponok escaped capture by the Knights and made it back to the Tidal Wave, but Tornado opined that Scorponok may have taken that opportunity to mutiny. Although Cannonball eventually escaped and was back in control of the Tidal Wave, later logs referred to Scorponok's "former quarters". Tornado - Decepticon Saboteur
Legends comic
Lord Zarak brought Scorponok to the Legends World, where he disguised his city mode as a shopping center known as the Hive. After recruiting Flywheels, he rampaged through the city as Scorponok until he was confronted by the Double-Headmasters, a combination of his Nebulon enemies and the local Autobots. He refused to become a Double-Headmaster himself by allowing Flywheels to form Scorponok's head, and ended up blasted through a portal back to where he came from. LGEX Headmaster Set Chapter
Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity
The Headmasters cartoon
- Voice actor: Banjō Ginga (Japanese), Jack Murphy (English), Fang Shuqiao (Chinese)
Scorponok was one of a group of diminutive Transformers who left Cybertron four million years ago to escape the Great War and took up residence on the planet Master. To survive the harsh environmental conditions on Master, the Transformers built large, lifeless robotic bodies called Transtectors, to which they could connect as heads, increasing their size and power. Scorponok underwent the training to become one of these "Headmasters," but he chafed under the leadership of Fortress, and he led several like-minded Headmaster warriors in a rebellion that ultimately ended with their defeat and exile from Master. The Mystery of Planet Master
By the year 2011, Scorponok had teamed up with Galvatron and the Decepticons, and his three minions, Weirdwolf, Mindwipe, and Skullcruncher, joined Galvatron's forces in an attack on Cybertron in 2011. Four Warriors Come out of the Sky Scorponok himself, on the other hand, refrained from making appearances on the battlefield, sticking to the shadows (in the most preposterously literal way imaginable) and emerging only to lure the Autobot Headmasters into a trap on the planet Praum. The Four-Million-Year-Old Veil of Mystery Not long thereafter, when Galvatron discovered that Vector Sigma was in the midst of developing a powerful new alloy, Scorponok advised against attacking the planet, suggesting instead that they destroy the alloy, rather than risk the Autobots gaining control of it. Cybertron Is in Grave Danger, Part 1 In truth, Scorponok was more concerned about Galvatron obtaining the alloy's power, and determined to stop anyone from acquiring it by taking out Cybertron itself. He had Mindwipe plant powerful bombs in Vector Sigma's chamber, which went off and devastated the planet, ostensibly taking Galvatron with it. Cybertron Is in Grave Danger, Part 2
Scorponok subsequently took control of the Decepticons, falsely claiming that Galvatron was alive and commanding him from afar. He immediately put a series of far-reaching plans into action, starting with the creation of a massive Transtector for himself, which would put him on equal footing with Fortress and his Transtector-scum-battleship, the Maximus. Enslaved Beastformers were put to work on the planet Zarak to construct this Transtector, and to provide it with power, Scorponok had the Decepticons steal Sol 1, a human solar-energy-gathering satellite, which beamed its power reserves to Zarak. The Shadow Emperor, Scorponok To distract the Autobots from his plans, he ordered Sixshot to attack Earth, so the heroes would focus their efforts on defending the planet. While the construction was going on, meanwhile, Scorponok focused his attention on harnessing the power of the plasma energy released in the destruction of Cybertron. The Dormant Volcano Mysteriously Erupts As part of his efforts to distract the Autobots, Scorponok sent the buridanka to Earth and Athenia, but was shocked when Fortress revealed his mighty transtector's robot mode to defeat it. Head On!! Fortress Maximus
Seeking to generate even more of plasma energy for his plans of universal conquest, Scorponok used the energy he had already obtained to create bombs that were planted beneath the surface of Mars, which would rip the planet apart. Explosion on Mars!! Maximus Is in Danger While the Autobots were busy fighting the Decepticon contingent on Mars to prevent the planet's destruction, Scorponok unveiled his completed MegaZarak transtector to the rest of the Decepticons on Chaar, stepping from the shadows for the first time as he brought all his troops aboard his new battleship-body and flew to Mars. Once there, MegaZarak transformed into robot mode and spitefully attacked the immobile Fortress Maximus before fleeing into space just before his plasma bombs detonated and blew Mars to cosmic rubble. The Maximus was able to absorb some of the energy released in the initial stages of the explosion, and Fortress was able to transform into Fortress Maximus and escape the blast. Fortress Maximus cleaved MegaZarak shoulder with his Master Sword, forcing the Decepticons to retreat. Explosion on Mars!! MegaZarak Appears
Believing that his deeds had cemented his position of power, Scorponok arranged to be coronated the new Decepticon emperor on Earth's moon, but in the midst of the ceremony, Galvatron returned alive and well and retook leadership. Return of the Immortal Emperor Subservient to Galvatron for the moment, MegaZarak and the other Decepticons once attempted to stop Autobot assistance to Sandra, but failed. SOS from Planet Sandra On MegaZarak's suggestion, Galvatron had the Decepticons distract the Autobots with a trap before departing to plunder other planets for their energy. Daniel Faces His Biggest Crisis Ever!! MegaZarak transformed to robot mode to battle Fortress Maximus on Hive, but the Decepticons were still forced off-planet. Fight to the Death on Planet Hive!! MegaZarak then took the Decepticons to Sperity, but they were fooled into thinking the planet was bereft of energy and left. Battle for Defense of the False Planet They next went to Daros, where they entered an alliance with the planet's decadent ruling class for energy, leaving when the Autobots and the oppressed populace joined forces to overthrow the corrupt government. It was on Daros that the Autobots met a Beastformer named Tekna who gave them valuable data about MegaZarak's weak spot at the cost of his life. Find MegaZarak's Weak Spot!! The Decepticons made final stops at Paradise Head Formation of Friendship and the Pirate Planet, but were nevertheless again and again repelled by Fortress and his Autobots. Mystery of the Space Pirate Ship When the Decepticons returned to Earth, diminishing MegaZarak's immediate usefulness to Galvatron, the wicked Headmaster returned to this own schemes, ignoring Galvatron's orders Ultra Magnus Dies!! and planting more plasma energy bombs along the Pacific Ring of Fire.
Everything turned around for Scorponok when Galvatron faced the Autobot Headmasters alone in a battle in Alaska, and was finally destroyed when they collapsed an iceberg on top of him. The Emperor of Destruction Vanishes on an Iceberg This allowed Scorponok to once again seize leadership of the Decepticons, appointing himself the "Emperor of Terror" and resuming his plan for the destruction of Earth by attempting the detonation of his plasma bombs. After Chromedome decoded Tekna's data, he raced to Earth where a battle was already in progress and gave Fortress Maximus the information, allowing the Autobot leader to perforate MegaZarak's weak spot, and send the critically wounded Decepticon fleeing off into space. I Risk My Life for Earth
Moving his attentions away from Earth for the time being, Scorponok led the Decepticons back to planet Master in search of a weapon to counter the power of Fortress's Master Sword. Miraculous Warriors, Targetmasters (Part 2) The Autobots pursued them, which unfortunately resulted in Wheelie being captured by the villains and ransomed for the secrets of the Master Sword. The Master Sword Is in Danger!! Using this information, Scorponok forged the Zarak Shield out of G-Metal, The Zarak Shield Turns the Tide and when the two weapons clashed, the Zarak Shield emerged triumphant. Operation: Destroy the Decepticons Emboldened by this victory, Scorponok led the charge back to Earth, My Friend Sixshot! intending to finally destroy it, pausing only in the asteroid belt to effect repairs on his Transtector, and to betray and dispose of Sixshot, whom he had never trusted. Duel on the Asteroid
Upon his return to Earth, Scorponok promptly had the Decepticon launch an energy-gathering satellite into orbit, and then withdrew to the sunken continent of Lemuria, where he already had numerous Decepticons working to mine the legendary crysmagnetal. Scorponok raised "Death Towers" of this metal in five strategic location all over Earth all, which proceeded to generate waves of energy that were gathered by the satellite. The Final Showdown on Earth (Part 1) For the final part of his plan, MegaZarak lured the Autobots to the North Pole, where he clashed with Fortress Maximus for the last time atop a sixth dais of crysmagnetal. As soon as the two combatants were upon the dais, MegaZarak had the satellite beam its stored energy down into his Transtector, and through it into the dais, creating an exponential loop that threatened to tear the Earth apart. Scorponok disconnected from his Transtector and retreated into space with the Decepticons to watch the Earth's destruction, only for Fortress Maximus—supercharged with the combined energy of the Autobot army united in a Head Formation—to destroy his Transtector, breaking the circuit and saving the Earth. The Final Showdown on Earth (Part 2)
Train Wars
Ask Vector Prime
Vector Prime stated that when Scorponok arranged for the plasma bombing and devastation of Cybertron, he also damaged the stable axis of the core reality. Several divergent universal streams and contradictory timelines emerged as a result of the network being based upon this unstable reality. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/06/11
In one segment of the system, Scorponok dispatched Fenris's team of Pretenders to acquire the Ultra Matrix from Beast. They were foiled, however, by a team of Autobot Pretenders led by Marduk. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/09/30
Super-God Masterforce Master File
With the Decepticons at last forced off of Earth, the Autobots also left the planet, and Transformers' war transitioned into a series of space-based exchanges between Chaar and Athenia, which became known as the Master Wars. To rejoin the fight, Scorponok had a new Transtector constructed, much smaller than his old one (comparatively speaking – it was still taller than a combiner), but outfitted with hyper-dense armor. Before he could connect with this new body, Scorponok was captured by the mysterious alien entity Devil Z, who had been in hibernation on Earth until recently, and saw a use for Scorponok in his plan to create the ultimate lifeform. Devil Z brainwashed Scorponok, placing him, and by extension the entire Decepticon army, under his control, and then allowed him to link up with his new Transtector. Rather than forming the head for his Transtector, however, Scorponok controlled it from within its chest cavity, wired directly into its systems from there, with a new "decoy" head placed between its shoulders. Now, Scorponok was BlackZarak (ブラックザラック BurakkuZarakku).
The former Decepticon ninja, Sixshot, learned what had befallen Scorponok, and alerted the Autobots to the existence of Devil Z on Earth. The news of this shadowy controller reached the Autobots just as the Trainbots reported the first sighting of BlackZarak in the shadows of a meteor cluster, and the concerned Autobots decided to send a collection of Transtectors to the small Autobot group under the command of Metalhawk that was still on Earth, which he used to transform human beings into Autobot warriors to aid in the battle against Devil Z's forces. The Headmasters Now!!
Super-God Masterforce cartoon
- Voice actor: Banjō Ginga (Japanese), Hidekatsu Shibata (Japanese, when merged with Devil Z), Roberto Colombo (Italian)
Archive footage of Fortress Maximus destroying the MegaZarak transtector was used to educate the future Headmaster Juniors about the Master Wars. Birth! Headmaster Jrs
After numerous failures by Devil Z's forces on Earth resulted in multiple Godmaster warriors joining the Autobot ranks instead of the Decepticons, the incensed alien summoned BlackZarak to Earth. Observing BlackZarak's activities, Fortress Maximus's younger brother, Grand Maximus, raced to Earth ahead of him and warned the Autobots of his coming. In preparation for BlackZarak's arrival, the Autobots worked to construct a power-up drone named Godbomber for their most powerful member, Ginrai. Life? Death? The Desperate Lightfoot While they worked, the approaching BlackZarak bombarded the Earth with meteors as part of a complicated scheme by Devil Z's ambassadors, Giga and Mega to publicly discredit the Autobots, which was ultimately foiled. Expose the Decepticons' Dark Trap!
BlackZarak's threat loomed for a while Super Ginrai Gets Blown Away in the Desert!? and when he made his way to Earth's orbit, Giga and Mega combined into their robot form of Overlord and headed to Earth's moon to rendezvous with BlackZarak. Will the Bomber Project Be Destroyed!? But before BlackZarak arrived, Ginrai merged with the completed Godbomber, and pursued him into space. BlackZarak showed up in the midst of their battle, and promptly impaled Ginrai with his Tyrant Spear, sending him crashing to the moon's surface. God Ginrai - Into the Sky!! BlackZarak and Overlord followed him down to the moon, and hunted the wounded Autobot, who was in dire straits until the timely arrival of Grand Maximus. With the sides now more evenly matched, the two Decepticons attempted to break off the battle and head for Earth, but Ginrai and Grand brought them back down to the moon with a bump. BlackZarak instructed the damaged Overlord to flee the battle, and although he was furious at being ordered around by this newcomer, Overlord could do little to argue, and left BlackZarak to face the two Autobots alone. Grand and Ginrai double-teamed BlackZarak, and eventually, Ginrai was able to decapitate the Decepticon with his God Fire Guts attack. Although Ginrai thought his opponent was done for, BlackZarak's headless body hauled itself back up, and retreated off into space, with Grand Maximus hot on his tail. God Ginrai - Showdown on the Surface of the Moon The defeat of both Overlord and BlackZarak upset the Earth-bound Decepticons, who swore vengeance on Ginrai. Overlord - Terror of the Chōkon Tornado Footage of BlackZarak's battle on the Moon eventually made its way to Clouder's hands, who used it as impetus to join the conflict. Appearance!! The Final Godmaster
During this extended stay in space, BlackZarak mastered localized gravity manipulation and gained the ability to open black holes, which he could use to teleport himself across the galaxy at will. After trapping Grand Maximus inside one of these singularities in order to keep him out of the way, BlackZarak teleported directly to Earth and immediately tore through New York City as part of Devil Z's "Operation M-1". He proceeded to attack Tokyo alongside Overlord, but was foiled when Ginrai freed Grand Maximus, and the two Autobots stopped the villains by tricking them into blasting each other. BlackZarak - Destroyer from Space With the failure of this scheme, Devil Z initiated "Operation M-2" and had BlackZarak withdraw to the far side of the moon, where he would unleash the atmosphere-destroying Death Para-Machine against the Earth. Thankfully, BlackZarak was only able to get off one shot from the deadly weapon before Ginrai destroyed it with his God Fire Guts attack. Crisis! The Day of Human Extinction
BlackZarak returned to attacking cities around the globe, and soon struck in a city where Cancer went to, with a trio of Sparkdash drones to back him up. Luckily, Autobot Godmaster Road King was on patrol in the area, and soon called in Ginrai to help him take BlackZarak down. God Ginrai - Save Cancer!? When the Decepticons formulated a trap, BlackZarak was sent to Moscow as part of a divide and conquer strategy. God Ginrai: Showdown at the Decepticon Base After battling Grand Maximus there, BlackZarak returned to the Decepticon base when the Autobots attacked it. During this clash, Devil Z took his brainwashing to the next level, and actually merged his consciousness with BlackZarak, entering his body and taking control of it himself. For his first act in BlackZarak's body, Devil Z collapsed the Decepticon base in a failed attempt to destroy the Autobots The Ultimate Combination!! BlackZarak, the New Lifeform and then led the Decepticons in an attack on North America, bombarding the country with his Devil Power from a strategic staging point in the heart of the Grand Canyon, Battle to the Death!! God Ginrai VS Darkwings Reborn continuing till Devil Z ordered the Decepticons to move to Europe. Autobots! Desperate Attack!!
Devil Z took the Decepticons to the peak of the Matterhorn, where he unleashed his Devil Power upon the continent until God Ginrai arrived to challenge him. Malevolent and Inhuman! The True Form of Devil Z The battle was fierce, and Ginrai thought he had won when he once again cleaved BlackZarak's head from his shoulders, but the decapitation of his host meant little to Devil Z, who simply transformed BlackZarak's body into a new, twin-headed serpent form, and kept the fight going. Uniting his Chōkon Power with that of the Headmaster Juniors, Ginrai unleashed his most powerful God Fire Guts yet and dove through BlackZarak's body, finally destroying the giant Decepticon in a huge explosion that left only ash and shrapnel. Although Devil Z survived the blast, he now no longer had BlackZarak's body to enclose him, and was wide open for Ginrai's finishing move: the Final Fire Guts, which utterly obliterated the evil alien. A Battle... and Then...
Legends comic
Years prior to his departure from Master, Scorponok kidnapped six of his fellow 'bots and exposed them to a sample of plasma energy in search of a method to use the energy to power himself up. The experiment was interrupted by Fortress, marking the beginning of Scorponok's open rebellion against him. He tried to recapture his test subjects on his return to Master, prompting them to flee and end up becoming Targetmasters. Mutant Targetmaster Birth Chapter
Brainstorm told Rattrap, visiting from the Legends World, the story about how he and other diminutive Transformers, including Scorponok, left Cybertron to escape the war and settled on Master. He then destroyed a returned Scorponok's Transtector with a powerful blast as proof that despite their size, life on the inhospitable planet had only made them stronger. Bonus Edition Vol. 9 Reflecting on his easy victory over such a mighty opponent, Brainstorm would later realize he had been temporarily powered up by Rattrap's presence. Bonus Edition Vol. 39 Highbrow would later mention that the Autobot Headmasters needed to train in case recent rumors that Scorponok had returned again were true. Brainstorm Chapter Part 1
By 2021, Scorponok did indeed reveal himself to have the battle with Brainstorm and continued his feud with the Autobots. Consumed by his lust for revenge against Fortress, he detonated a black hole in order to both destroy the Autobots and produce plasma energy for himself, indifferent to the fact that his own troops were in range of the explosion. His plan failed as the Autobots were able to recover much of the explosives, causing the black hole to instead divide into "black balls" that infested the bodies of everyone present. Headmaster Chapter Prologue While his troops traveled to the Legends World, Scorponok remained in the G1 World and wandered space. Devil Z, resurrected in the Legends World, remotely brainwashed him and had him return to Beast and enslave Beastformers to build two new transtectors. This resulted in a new BlackZarak as well as the gigantic Majin Zarak, a beast so gigantic Scorponok didn't even form part of it but piloted it like a vehicle. Legends World in Imminent Danger! Part One
When Devil Z was resurrected, Weirdwolf recalled with resentment how they'd lost BlackZarak to him. Bonus Edition Vol. 35 Devil Z also remembered how he had taken control of BlackZarak, and repeated the trick by wiring Megatron into the chest of the Galvatron Transtector while he himself controlled it from the head. Bonus Edition Vol. 36 When Devil Z broke free from his restraints in the Legends World, he brought the brainwashed Scorponok and BlackZarak transtector to the Legends World and reformed the hybrid Devil Z/BlackZarak being. Devil Z attempted to kill every living thing in the Legends World so that he could use its native energies all for himself, but he was stopped in his tracks by Grand Maximus and the Masterforce users residing in the Legends World. Devil Z and the BlackZarak transtector were destroyed at the battle's conclusion, although Scorponok was spared. Bonus Edition Grand Maximus
Freed from Devil Z's influence, Scorponok immediately thought of a plan to produce energy by using the plasma-infused Targetmaster partners as bombs to blow up the Legends World. In order to keep the world's defenders busy, he brought over Majin Zarak and began causing chaos while his troops abducted the Targetmasters. Legends World in Imminent Danger! Part One While his creation seemed unbeatable, sabotage at the hands of Beastformers allowed the defenders of the Legends World to force Majin Zarak and Scorponok through a dimensional portal, causing them both to disappear to some unknown location. Legends World in Imminent Danger! Part Two
Zone
- Voice actor: Hirohiko Kakegawa (Japanese)
Several years after the conclusion of the Masterforce War, when the supernatural entity Violengiguar seized control of the Decepticons, one of his first actions was to recruit "Nine Great Demon Generals" from Decepticon history. Violengiguar assigned BlackZarak to serve as his "Evil Spirit General", and outfitted him with new armor and weapons to make him more deadly than ever before. Zone Part 1 Along with the other Generals, BlackZarak schooled Metrotitan and the Metrosquad in the ways of evil, making them formidable opponents for the Powered Masters. Zone Part 7
BlackZarak was part of the team of generals who attacked planet Zone in order to steal its precious Energon Z for Violengiguar's schemes, but BlackZarak refrained from participating in the assault, hanging back on the fringes of the planet's atmosphere to cover his allies' rear. As his fellow generals made good their escape with the Energon Z in hand, BlackZarak barred the way of the Super Car Patrol Team and Battle Patrol as they attempted to pursue in the Galaxy Rocket. The Demon General managed to trap the rocket in a crackling field of electricity, and then departed to rejoin his fellow Decepticons, leaving the electric net to slowly destroy the rocket. Luckily for the Autobots, the Jet Patrol Team arrived to destroy the net, and Sunrunner proceeded to use his radar to track BlackZarak back to the other Decepticons. Enter the New Supreme Commander, Dai Atlas!
BlackZarak later attacked Earth, and met resistance in the form of Landshaker and Sky Hyper. BlackZarak seized Landshaker, easily shrugging off Skyhyper's blasts, but was suddenly stunned by a barrage from Sonic Bomber, as he and Dai Atlas came swooping onto the battlefield. Exploiting the opening, Dai Atlas fired on BlackZarak, proving once again that the Autobots' desire to save their comrades would always best the Decepticons' evil. Zone Part 5
TV Magazine cartoon continuity
Super-God Masterforce comic
When it became apparent that the small force under his command on Earth lacked the manpower to handle the Autobots, Devil Z chose to unite them with the Decepticons in space, and ordered the combined army to attack Athenia. Ginrai (who was on the planet at the time to be appointed Supreme Commander of the Autobots) was able to win the battle by defeating Scramble 7, but after the fight, BlackZarak made his first appearance before the Autobots, carrying Hydra, Buster and the Decepticon Headmasters, who announced that they were returning to Earth. The Battle Begins! The Earth-Space Alliance Army
BlackZarak joined the Decepticons in travelling to Earth, battling Raiden and the Autobot Headmasters outside the planet's atmosphere while Ginrai confronted Overlord for the first time down on its surface. After defeating his opponents, BlackZarak turned towards Earth, only to find Ginrai streaking towards him, with Overlord in close pursuit. At the last moment, Ginrai spun out of the way, causing the two Decepticons to accidentally strike each other, and damage one another quite badly. While the wounded Overlord returned to Earth, BlackZarak limped back off into space. God Ginrai's Amazing Divine Combination!
BlackZarak later battled Grand Maximus and the Autobot Godmasters in space, with the aid of Darkwings, The Good and Evil Families of Earth after which Devil Z spirited him away to carry out some upgrades. The Decepticons' Great Counterattack! These upgrades complete, BlackZarak was soon returned to Earth, and joined Overlord in attacking another city, where he wound up battling Grand Maximus and the Autobots Godmasters once more. Life or Death? The Desperate Divine Combination! Later, BlackZarak attacked China with a trio of Sparkdash drones. Decepticon Headmaster Junior Cancer happened to be in the city at the time, and when the Autobots arrived to battle BlackZarak, he displayed his disdain for humans—even comrades—by seizing Cancer and using him as a shield to keep the Autobots at bay. It was then that Overlord arrived, and surprised everyone by viciously attacking BlackZarak, disgusted by his treatment of Cancer. While the two Decepticons were fighting, the Autobots exploited their conflict to attack and force them to retreat. The Great Turnabout of the Autobots
Overlord's betrayal proved to be the last straw for Devil Z, and he took matters into his own hands by connecting himself to BlackZarak's Transtector as a new head of sorts. Now in control of the Decepticon's body and mind, he transformed BlackZarak into a new serpentine form, and attacked Overlord, the Headmaster Juniors and Ginrai, intending to absorb their Jinchōkon, in order to transform himself into the ultimate lifeform. His Jinchōkon-absorbing beam was blocked by the wholly-robotic Autobot Pretenders, and the Autobots and Decepticons united to destroy Devil Z and BlackZarak for good. Uniting their powers in the "Perfect Transform Attack", all the Autobots and Decepticons boarded Grand Maximus, who collided with BlackZarak, destroying the Decepticon and his alien passenger in an explosion of pure Chōkon Power. The Birth of the Super Life-Forms
Zone comic
Years after the end of the Masterforce War on Earth, the creature known as Violengiguar took control of the Decepticon forces and created an elite fighting force by recruiting "Nine Great Demon Generals" from throughout Transformer history. BlackZarak was selected to be one of these generals, and Violengiguar used his strange, supernatural powers to bring the Decepticon back from the dead, dubbing him his "Evil Spirit General" and increasing his strength with new armor and weaponry. Zone Part 1 Along with the other Generals, BlackZarak schooled Metrotitan and the Metrosquad in the ways of evil, making them formidable opponents for the Powered Masters. Zone Part 7
BlackZarak was part of the contingent of generals sent to planet Zone to steal its super-energy, Energon Z, for Violengiguar. After his fellow Decepticons succeeded in purloining the Energon Z, BlackZarak covered their escape, seizing the Galaxy Rocket carrying the pursuing Autobots in an unbreakable grip. He proceeded to coat the rocket in a cocoon of strange energy webbing and then departed to join his fellow generals, but fortunately for the Autobots, the Jet Patrol Team arrived to cut them free before they lost BlackZarak's trail. Zone
BlackZarak later attacked Earth, and met resistance in the form of Landshaker and Sky Hyper. BlackZarak seized Landshaker, easily shrugging off Skyhyper's blasts, but was suddenly stunned by a barrage from Sonic Bomber, as he and Dai Atlas came swooping onto the battlefield. Exploiting the opening, Dai Atlas fired on BlackZarak, proving once again that the Autobots' desire to save their comrades would always best the Decepticons' evil. Zone Part 5
Ladybird Books continuity
Scorponok was originally a large, mobile Decepticon base on Nebulos. Decepticons at the Pole Through means unknown, he became a Transformer, as well as smaller and sentient, and took command of the Decepticon forces from Cyclonus.
He matched wits with Optimus Prime himself, at one point trying to lure him into surrendering in exchange for a hostage's life. Autobot Hostage Eventually, the Autobots became too big a nuisance, and Scorponok had the Decepticons move en masse to a secret underground city in the Nebulos Triangle, but this backfired when the Autobots sealed him and his army underground for good. Decepticons Underground
Swamp of the Scorpion
The mighty city Scorponok lay dormant deep within Nebulos's vast jungle-swamp. In this mode, he served as Lord Zarak's base of operation while Zarak plotted to steal Nebulos's oil supply to further his dreams of conquest. Opposing him were a young Nebulan and the Autobot Highbrow. Whether or not Scorponok and the other Decepticons succeeded in their plot depended on the decisions you made! Swamp of the Scorpion
Transformers in 3-D
Seeking a new Energon source, the Decepticons flew Scorponok to an out-of-the-way asteroid, where he served as a base of operations. When a fight inevitably broke out, Scorponok flew to the battle scene. After he picked up Blurr and tossed the Autobot into the distance, Fortress Maximus angrily bodyslammed him, and the pair began grappling. The Test
Scorponok, accompanied by Cyclonus and Octane, intercepted Cosmos, as the Autobot was heading for Andellor. Scorponok threatened to destroy the Autobot unless he revealed where he was headed. Cosmos complied, but Scorponok was keen on destroying him anyway. Cyclonus insisted they investigate, and recalled the history of Andellor. Scorponok realised that the Prism of Power which Cosmos sought was the only thing that could stop the Decepticon's new weapon, the suspension-ray beam. Down on the planet, the three Decepticons ventured into a cave and were attacked, first by some tentacles from a pool, and finally by Ironhide. Ironhide shrugged off Scorponok's mightiest blast, and defeated both him and Cyclonus. Transformers in 3-D #2
After the Clones failed to obtain the coordinates to Metascan Alpha, Zarak mocked Galvatron's skills and, combining with Scorponok, reasserted that he was leader of the Decepticons now. While the pair were still in disagreement, Optimus Prime broke into their base with the intention of destroying Galvatron's Nullification Cannon. During the battle, Scorponok took a swing at Prime which accidentally connected with the Cannon, causing it to explode. The War Against the Destructons, Chapter 1 of 3
PDTF Comic
Scorponok and Fortress Maximus met in battle, with Scorponok vowing to crush Maximus with his bare hands. Unfortunately the two giant Transformers, engrossed in their fight, began to topple over, sending their smaller comrades fleeing for their lives. Watch Out! Mega Zarak!
Dreamwave Generation One continuity
Shortly before the Great Shutdown, Scorponok attended a teleconference with Ratbat and Shockwave, where he criticized the latter for "thinking like a calculator instead of a warrior". Destined for Nothing
Eventually, Scorponok became a leading figure in the Decepticon army, but in order to maintain his standing he assumed a brutish, one-dimensional persona, hiding his misgivings about the war. This continued until the war reached the planet Nebulos. While there, Scorponok binary bonded with the corrupt politician Zarak. However, Zarak's grief at the devastation which had been brought to his planet stirred up sentiments in Scorponok he'd presumed were long buried. More than Meets the Eye #5
2005 IDW continuity
- First appearance: Spotlight: Ultra Magnus
Scorponok was a rare Point One Percenter with an abnormally strong green spark. The Fecund Moon Originally Scorponok was one of the many gladiators who inhabited Kaon; in the past, he'd fought the Dynobot leader Grimlock in the ring, and considered him one of the greatest gladiators on the planet. Rage Like many other gladiators, Scorponok joined Megatron's burgeoning "Decepticon" movement, but didn't share his leader's desire to create an equal society—in Scorponok's ideal world, the strong ruled unchallenged and the weak were culled. Unleashed
When Megatron fell in his first battle against Optimus Prime, Scorponok usurped his role as Decepticon leader and banished his predecessor to the deadly planet Junkion. Derelicts Most Decepticons initially accepted this change in management, but Hun-Gar and his Terrorcons were disappointed that he'd failed to kill Megatron and set out to finish the job, leaving Scorponok with the promise that they'd deal with him afterwards. Wreckage Scorponok's first goal as leader was to break up Optimus Prime's Grand Convocation by cutting them off from the planet's last major source of energon, forcing them to fight among themselves, and undermining their support for Optimus and the Autobots. When his strike force arrived to conquer Toraxxis mega-refinery, they stumbled across Grimlock and the Dynobots robbing energon for themselves, who triggered the plant's alarms and summoned Autobot reinforcements. Faces of Darkness
Scorponok pursued Grimlock into the refinery to kill him, but was overwhelmed when the Dynobot lost his temper and transformed into a monstrous cyber-morphic predator. Desperate to avoid arrest, Grimlock threatened to blow up the entire complex, which Scorponok encouraged—when Grimlock relented, Scorponok leapt into the refinery's fusion regulator and deactivated it. Rage Although thousands of Cybertronians perished in the ensuing explosion, Scorponok survived and encouraged his remaining troops to scavenge parts from the "weaklings" who'd died—when one of his men protested that Megatron would never have stooped to such ghoulish behaviour, Scorponok angrily crushed his head for daring to bring up their past leader. Fallout
The destruction of the Toraxxis triggered a mass exodus of neutrals, and Scorponok, disgusted by their cowardice, sent troops to Starsreach Spaceport to show the evacuees that there was no escape. Massacre Learning that the Autobots had discovered the sleeping giant Trypticon beneath the ruins of Toraxxis, Scorponok ordered his Decepticons to carpet-bomb the area until they destroyed the seals keeping Trypticon down—the Decepticon leader hoped that Trypticon's rampage would wipe the slate clean and allow Scorponok to rebuild Cybertron in his own twisted image Unleashed In Kolkular, Scorponok sat back to enjoy Trypticon's rampage from afar until Starscream informed him that he was needed in the fortress's main hall... where he found a furious Megatron, freshly returned from his exile. Megatron easily trounced his foe; ignoring his pleas for mercy, Megatron unceremoniously shot Scorponok in the head and threw him over to the Terrorcons. As he retook his rightful place as leader of the Decepticons, Megatron ordered Hun-Gar and his followers to keep Scorponok alive... and in agonizing pain. The Illusion of Control
At some point, Scorponok found his way onto the Decepticon Justice Division's infamous kill list. The Ties That Bind
During the war, Scorponok once stole a consignment of solar agitators from an installation under Dynobot protection. Spotlight: Grimlock Half a million years ago, while in the Manganese Mountains, he fought a unit of Autobots that included Shimmerstick, Chromedome and Rewind. The Custom-Made Now As the war spread across the galaxy, Scorponok began deliberately violating the non-interaction accord of the Code of Interplanetary Conflict. His traditional modus operandi was to establish contact with amoral aliens on technologically advanced worlds, develop new hybrid technologies, then eliminate his "partners' when he had what he wanted. Ultra Magnus had been seeking him for some time. On the planet Nebulos, Scorponok found such a partner in Mo Zarak, head of the Zarak Consortium, front for a cabal of renegade scientists. With Scorponok's input, the self-proclaimed "Cranium" began augmenting Nebulan test subjects—including Zarak himself—with Cybertronian technology before Ultra Magnus tracked him down. Although Scorponok quickly got the upper hand against the Autobot, Zarak ran out, begging Scorponok not to fire lest he destroy what they built together. Unable to abort his shot, Scorponok accidentally killed Zarak; though horrified by his own actions, Scorponok barely survived a direct shot to the head as he staggered to an artificial wormhole generator and escaped. Spotlight: Ultra Magnus
Shortly after Optimus arrived on Earth, Ultra Magnus contacted him to report that he'd found new lead on Scorponok's whereabouts. Spotlight: Optimus Prime At some point over the intervening twenty years, the wounded Scorponok—reduced to little more than a damaged, disconnected head—had relocated to Earth to continue his hybridization experiments. Using a human collaborator named Abraham Dante as his front man, Scorponok established an underground organization Machination. As he sought to restore his body, Scorponok and his scientists developed the Headmaster process that would allow cybernetically augmented humans to control Cybertronian bodies. Dante sent agents out into the field to locate the Autobot and Decepticon bases and conceived tactical scenarios for forcibly acquiring a Transformer as a "guinea pig" before Scorponok underwent the process himself. The discovery of Ore-13 accelerated the conflict on Earth, and, in response, the Machination accelerated their own plans. Infiltration #4
When the Autobots Ironhide and Sunstreaker next left the Ark-19 in Lake Michigan, Machination agents surprised them on the highway and kidnapped Sunstreaker, leaving behind a heavily scrapped replica to throw any pursuers temporarily off the scent. As a bonus, they picked up Sunstreaker's human passenger, Hunter O'Nion. Escalation #1 Taking advantage of the situation, Scorponok and Dante attempted to have Hunter brainwashed and subjected him to the same bio-mechanical engineering as their own agents. Escalation #5 From Sunstreaker, the Machination began manufacturing an army of reverse-engineered Sunstreaker clones, each with their own Headmaster pilot, networked together through Sunstreaker's severed head. Escalation #6 Meanwhile, Abraham Dante underwent the Headmaster process himself; the two of them binary bonded just in time to test-drive their union against Hunter O'Nion, who had managed to shake off their brainwashing attempt and was trying to escape the Machination compound. Despite his renewed size and power, Scorponok failed to prevent Hunter from binary-bonding with one of the Sunstreaker drones and escaping the Machination. Devastation #6
Dante and Scorponok were of like mind—so alike, in fact, that shortly after undergoing the Headmaster process they already considered themselves one being. Upon learning that the clandestine government group known as Skywatch had taken Grimlock captive, the combined Scorponok-Dante entity called on their mole Kloss, who planet a virus into Grimlock and freed him from their control. Soon enough, Grimlock escaped, and Scorponok met Grimlock with an offer of an alliance for world conquest. Grimlock refused, and Scorponok triumphed in the ensuing fight. Before he could deliver the final blow, however, Grimlock escaped by teleporting to the still-functional Skyfire, while Scorponok planned to destroy Grimlock by taking control of the other Dynobots. Spotlight: Grimlock Once his agents had ensured Skywatch had reprogrammed the Dynobots so that he could remotely control them, Scorponok arranged for Grimlock to be orbital-bounced to Fallon, Nevada. Maximum Dinobots #1 When Skywatch turned up with the Dynobots, he engineered a massive, destructive fight, a setup that would discredit Skywatch, allow his Headmasters to "save the day", and secure lucrative anti-Transformer defense contracts from the panicked US government. While his attempt to exploit the Dynobots' internal divides failed, he successfully beat Hot Rod half to death as he explained his plan to the defeated Autobot. Maximum Dinobots #2
Eventually, Scorponok lost control of the Dynobots and sent in his army of Headmasters to annihilate everyone, only for the newly arrived Monsterbots to turn the tide. Scorponok ordered his soldiers to terminate the bemused Hot Rod, but the young Autobot set his guards ablaze and escaped the compound. Maximum Dinobots #3 As Hot Rod broke out, Sunstreaker—now binary-bonded to Hunter to replace his real head—broke in to try and find a way to reverse the process; though Scorponok blasted him through the chest, Hunter escaped as the Monsterbots laid siege to the Machination compound and took out its defenses. A furious Scorponok ordered a full recall of all Headmasters to attack the Dynobots, but Hunter severed his connection to the network and disabled all the Headmasters. A furious Scorponok began to take revenge on Grimlock, until Shockwave, also seeking vengeance against the Dinobot, arrived. Maximum Dinobots #4 The two Decepticons fell to fighting, but when Shockwave, calculating that the Headmaster process had impeded Scorponok's mental fortitude, gained the upper hand, he allowed Scorponok to retreat before he turned his attention back to Grimlock. Scorponok caught Hot Rod trying to sever the connection with his real head, so he thought he'd take out his frustrations by squeezing the life out of Hot Rod. However, Swoop severed the connection himself and rendered Scorponok helpless. When Ultra Magnus finally responded to Hot Rod's distress message, he took Scorponok into custody and brought down the Machination for good by ordering the Autobots to remove any and all Cybertronian technology. Maximum Dinobots #5
The wounded Scorponok was imprisoned on Garrus-9, where he received a new head and a smaller body. The Ties That Bind Although his new body lacked Headmaster technology, some vestige of Dante's consciousness persisted in his mind. Kill All 'Cons During the Surge, the Decepticon Overlord seized control of the prison. Fellow inmate Shockwave cut a deal with Overlord—in exchange for curing his Achilles virus, he'd receive his freedom, a ship, and a hand-picked crew of Decepticons to accompany him offworld. Shockwave chose Scorponok, among others, to accompany him—what they didn't know was that Shockwave had specifically picked them because they were on the Decepticon Justice Division's List; when the DJD caught up with them, Shockwave attempted to bargain away the rest of his crew in exchange for his own life. Rather than stick around to be a bargaining chip, Scorponok and fellow crewmembers Flame and Flywheels blasted themselves out an airlock to escape. The Ties That Bind Scorponok and Flame became separated from Flywheels as they drifted helplessly through space; they were soon found and recruited by a mysterious entity who called himself the "Grand Architect". Kill All 'Cons
Although Scorponok secured a high-ranking generalship in this new hierarchy, Lūstrāre, he cared little for the Architect's enigmatic agenda and found himself quite frustrated at never being told his mysterious master's identity or full plan, beyond using five duplicate Cybertrons to create a God Gun that would trap a great enemy in a parallel universe. Farsickness Scorponok helped co-ordinate and oversee various experiments that the Architect's agents were conducting in secret locations around the galaxy, attempts to artificially engineer the ultimate Cybertronian lifeform that yielded strange lifeforms like the wooden "Treecons" and the multi-changing "Infinites". The Ties That Bind Farsickness. Realizing that the ancient source of knowledge known as the Magnificence could aid in this objective, Scorponok utilized the transwarp tunnels of the Warren to abduct Grimlock—who had had the talisman implanted in his chest for safekeeping—from his cell on Garrus-9 and transported him to the planet Corritan. After a protracted period of physical and mental torture, Scorponok forced Grimlock to surrender the Magnificence and dumped his broken body in a stasis tube on board a Worldsweeper-class starship. The Ties That Bind
In secret, Scorponok diverted some of the Architect's resources towards experiments of his own—his attempts to revitalize his increasingly stagnant race led to the development of "Project: Firstborn", an attempt to implant a Cybertronian spark into an organic lifeform. The Ties That Bind Farsickness Scorponok somehow lost possession of the Magnificence, but picked up its trail again in 2017 when the Catharsian Mengel contacted him with the news that she'd successfully brought one of the Infinites to term in her lab on Troja Major. Realizing that she must have used the Magnificence to accomplish this feat, Scorponok sent troops to collect the Infinite, recover the Magnificence, and begin the elimination of all the Grand Architect's agents—with the means to mass-produce Infinites in their grasp, the Grand Architect's clandestine operatives were loose ends to be disposed of. Upon being presented with the Magnificence, Scorponok scoffed at Mengel's lack of ambition regarding the relic's powers. Chasing the Infinite
Further usage of the Magnificence revealed the device was continuing to evolve and was now capable of scanning Cybertronian brains and choosing whether or not to answer. However, due to his unique brainwave patterns—a relic of his severed Headmaster bond with Abraham Dante—Scorponok could bypass this layer of security and force the Magnificence to tell him whatever he wanted. Using the Magnificence, Scorponok advanced his own agenda by extracting Rat-a-Tat-Tat's spark and grafting it into an artificially engineered organic he dubbed the "Firstborn", which would hopefully revitalize the Decepticon race via sexual reproduction; until that day, he carried her gestation pod inside his own chest compartment. Kill All 'Cons
Scorponok's private Worldsweeper landed on Confluence where a battery of disguised Treecons kept watch for intruders. When the Scavengers arrived on Confluence and dispatched the Treecons, Scorponok ambushed the group and remotely disabled Grimlock before imprisoning the group on his ship. After confirming that the Scavengers weren't working for his enemy, Scorponok waited until the Scavengers had pried open Grimlock's chest compartment, then made a dramatic entrance so that he could explain the story behind Grimlock and the Magnificence. Once he'd determined that the Scavengers were completely expendable, Scorponok reactivated Grimlock in the hopes that the brain-damaged Dinobot would eviscerate his erstwhile allies. The Ties That Bind
Scorponok learned that the now-lucid Grimlock, who'd seemingly murdered his Decepticon allies, was demanding an audience with him. Amused, Scorponok gloated to his old rival about the Magnificence before the Scavengers—who'd faked their deaths to catch Scorponok off-guard—turned the tables on their captor and seized the Magnificence to learn Scorponok's true plan. Unwilling to have his thunder stolen, Scorponok unveiled the Firstborn and explained his plan to replenish the Decepticon faction—in exchange for killing Grimlock, Scorponok offered to make the Scavengers his generals, only for the group to refuse the offer. In response, Scorponok began harvesting their sparks before Nickel use a pre-recorded message of Tarn's voice to paralyze him while the Scavengers stole the Firstborn and ran off. Kill All 'Cons Losing his experiment and the Magnificence prompted Scorponok to question remaining at the Architect's side. Farsickness
As the Grand Architect's plans neared completion, the Phantom Fleet travelled to Mederi where they clashed with the Lost Light. Captain Getaway, pledged loyalty to the Architect by turning over his crew to Scorponok, who mutated them into sparkeaters. Remaining aboard the Lost Light, Scorponok was soon reunited with Hot Rod—now calling himself Rodimus—whom he once again trounced; before he could execute his old foe, Tyrest teleported him away. Lūstrāre
Back aboard the flagship, Scorponok teleported a geobomb into Mederi before noting that the enemy the Grand Architect had prepared so long to face had failed to present himself. When the Black Block Consortia prepared to kill Team Rodimus, Scorponok eagerly watched only for the Architect to instead imprison them. His patience finally exhausted, Scorponok ordered Sunder to use his remote mnemosurgery abilities and discover their master's true identity, only for the Architect to resist the telepathic attack and strip Sunder of his powers. As the God Gun began drilling into the alternate universe, Scorponok noted that their long-prophesied enemy still hadn't shown up, moments before Tyrest then detected an energy buildup on the other side of the portal. Scorponok realized that the Architect had miscalculated—their enemy was in this other universe, and the Architect's million-year gambit had allowed him access into theirs... moments before Adaptus, the Grand Architect in Pharma's body, fatally stabbed him in the back, then sliced his head in half as punishment for making him raise his voice. Farsickness His body remained where it fell, and Flame took to reminding the Grand Architect's other associates that they didn't want to get "Scorponok'd". The Return of the King
Kre-O cartoon
Spinister, Galvatron, and Scorponok were sent by Megatron to rob the Autobot City Bank. In heavy disguise, they went in and got the drop on the bank tellers, only for Optimus Prime, Bumblebee and Wheeljack to turn up. The Decepticons called in Devastator, who ripped the roof off the bank and disposed of the three Autobots. Scorponok subsequently cracked open the safe and passed the energon inside to Spinister for delivery to Megatron. Quest for Energon, Part 1 Scorponok and Barricade carried the completed weapon over to Hightower to be set up. When Wheeljack and Cliffjumper invaded the work site, Scorponok helped in their capture, only to be pelted with molten cheese when they turned out to be a diversion. He and the other Decepticons were subsequently strung up in a net. Quest for Energon, Part 2
Kre-O online comic
Scorponok was among Bludgeon's forces when they uncovered the Red Bucket, and fled the scene when Bludgeon was defeated by Jazz and Bluestreak. Treasure Competition! Defeat with Block Power!
Transformers vs. G.I. Joe
A city on Megatron-dominated Cybertron, Funeral for a Friend Scorponok was known as a "city of madness" where unspeakable things took place. When several Autobots and Joes were captured by the Decepticons, the Astrotrain carried them to Scorponok for punishment. Expelled from the Garden Billy and Snake Eyes battled atop Scorponok's claws, resulting in the former losing his right arm and leg. FCBD Funnies Within Scorponok, Decepticobra constructed the artificial town of Springfield where Doctor Mindbender brainwashed the captured Joes into thinking they were just ordinary citizens. As Scorponok was facing off against Optimus Prime, Scarlett was able to fight off the influence and kill Scorponok's Neb'los Headmaster, Mo Zarak, after which she herself took control of the scorpion-city. Headmasters Optimus Prime stood atop of Scorponok when he repaired Bumblebee back to working order, leading to word spreading that Optimus had "tamed" the Decepticon war machine. Pax Megatronus
When Primus began transforming, Scorponok fled with the rest of the Autobots to avoid getting crushed. Escape from Primus Scarlett, now going by "Zkarlett", then had Scorponok meet up with Fortress Maximus so that she could share a moment with Snake-Eyes, who was similarly in control of Maximus. Together, they then used their city-bot bodies to help convince Metroplex to transform into robot mode and join them in fighting the Decepticon army. Transformers vs. G.I. Joe #12 During the final battle, Scorponok and Maximus took on Megatron's "Mega-Megatron" combiner form, which dwarfed even them. After the Autobots and Joes were victorious, Scarlett brought Scorponok with her to Earth and positioned the city on the planet's new continent, where it became home to victims of the Springfield incident and other displaced peoples and refugees. She and Snake-Eyes lived in a log cabin built on the tip of its tail. The War Never Ends
Ask Vector Prime
In Primax 1086.0 Kappa, Scorponok and Fortress Maximus were both killed by Nebulans during the Transformers' battle on Nebulos, and their remains were fused together by Mortilus Zarak into a giant robot body under his control. After he binary bonded with the body, however, the faint traces of Scorponok and Maximus's sparks began affecting his mind, eventually driving him mad and turning him into "Zarak Maximus". Ask Vector Prime, 2015/06/11
Of Masters and Mayhem
According to reports by Punch, his alter-ego Counterpunch had worked his way into being a trusted advisor to Scorponok. Whether or not this actually happened is uncertain given the conflict between the two personas. The Truth We Make
Beast Wars: Uprising
When the devastating Transformer war spread to Nebulos, the Decepticon saboteur Zarak and the Nebulan genius Fausto Borx colluded to transform the city of Kinodia into the towering superweapon MegaZarak: the first "double-Headmaster", jointly piloted by their binary-bonded intellects. Bolstered by this new addition, the Decepticons briefly enjoyed the upper hand during the Nebulan campaign - but their joy would short-lived, as the Autobots retaliated by binary-bonding Cerebros and Spike Witwicky into Fortress Maximus. The battle between these two titans devastated the already ravaged world. Though MegaZarak was the stronger of the two city-bots, the Autobots used Llyra—daughter of Fausto and mate of their human ally Daniel Witwicky—as a distraction, and MegaZarak's brief hesitation cost him the fight. A Brush With Infamy–Prologue
Though Fortress Maximus emerged triumphant, Nebulos would never again support life, and races across the galaxy would forever immortalize the tragedy as the "Scouring of Nebulos." Head Games MegaZarak saw action again several years later on the planet Rebirth; by that point, Zarak had replaced Borx with the Cyberdroids Dante and Caliburn. When the Autobots arrived to liberate the world from Decepticon control, the Decepticons deployed MegaZarak against Fortress Maximus. This time, MegaZarak succeeded in toppling his old foe and the Autobots were forced to retreat. A Brush With Infamy–Prologue Derailment
At some point after this, Dante was unwillingly replaced by the grandson of Fausto Borx. MegaZarak was later destroyed under unspecified circumstances in another battle with Fortress Maximus at the very end of the Great War, presumably taking Zarak with him. Derailment
War for Cybertron Trilogy
War for Cybertron Trilogy marketing material
| “ | Kindness is no virtue... and cruelty is no vice. | ” |
| —Earthrise Scorponok, reusing his original motto | ||
The Scorponok were one of the few unforeseen dangers ahead of the Autobots and Decepticons in their race for the AllSpark. Scorponok's function served as a Titan, his primary objective was annihilation, and their primary weapon was the Electro-Stinger. Decepticon Fasttrack's function was to serve Scorponok. Earthrise webpage[1]
War for Cybertron Trilogy cartoon
- Voice actor: Michael Dunn (English), Taichi Takeda (Japanese), Frédéric Souterelle (French), Tilo Schmitz (German), Ricardo Schnetzer (Portuguese), Paco Vaquero (Castilian Spanish), Humberto Solórzano (Latin-American Spanish)
The Scorponok were created by the Quintessons, though much like the Cybertronians, they were treated poorly. The Scorponok never fought back, leaving their home destroyed and its people killed, except for one individual Earthrise episode 4 aboard Nebulon Station, an outpost jammed between a constantly active space bridge. This Scorponok awakened when the Ark-bound Autobots entered the station intending to explode it to pass through the space bridge. Declaring the Autobots an infestation, he killed a Security Officer and fought with the Autobots, including a hologram of Omega Supreme created by Mirage. Optimus Prime shortly joined the skirmish and knocked Scorponok down a chasm, though he merely transformed and rose up in his gigantic robot mode. After killing another Security Officer, he gave chase to the fleeing Autobots, though they managed to buy time behind a reinforced door. Earthrise episode 3
Scorponok busted down the door and resumed the fight against the Autobots. Nearly killing Optimus Prime, he was stopped by the arrival of Megatron and his Nemesis-bound Decepticons. After numerous attacks from both sides and tossing aside an annoying Ravage, Scorponok transformed and disrupted the duel between Optimus Prime and Megatron, only for the former to throw and shoot a charge in Scorponok's face. Arising from the rubble, he once again engaged in a fight with the Autobots and Decepticons, who discovered his weak point was his head. Optimus Prime leaped onto Scorponok's back and slung the disconnected wires on the ground around his neck to ride him, leaving the giant scorpion angered to be once again enslaved. After a failed attempt to kill Optimus Prime thanks to Megatron's interference, Scorponok fled.
Later, Optimus Prime accused Megatron of having Quintesson-like behavior, which attracted the ire of Scorponok, who explained how cruel the Quintessons were and how Megatron is not too dissimilar to a Judge. A furious Megatron blasted Scorponok which provoked the latter to attack the Decepticons, giving the Autobots time to disable the station's gravity controls and flee to the Ark. Starscream, in a gambit for power, used the Nemesis' cannons at max-power to destroy the Autobots and Megatron, with the resulting explosion presumably taking Scorponok with it. Earthrise episode 4
My Little Pony/Transformers
An ancient Titan, Scorponok was once controlled by another only to be deliberately buried when his controller vanished. When King Sombra was unleashed on Cybertron, the unicorn tyrant had his mind-controlled army exhume the Titan's body whereupon he possessed it, intending to conquer Equestria and Cybertron as "King Sombranok". Sombra struggled however to activate Scorponok's weapon systems in time to fight off the Equestrian/Cybertronian alliance, leaving the Titan vulnerable to the power of friendship. Through the efforts of Optimus Prime and Megatron, Scorponok's systems overloaded and his body exploded in a burst of arcane energy. Finale
Commercial appearances
- Scorponok grappled with Fortress Maximus on Nebulon, while other Headmasters and Targetmasters scuffled around them. Scorponok was lifted into the air by his tail, and tossed about like a ragdoll by his opponent. Headmaster comic book commercial
- When the Technobots attacked his base mode, Scorponok transformed to scorpion mode and retaliated under Galvatron's orders. Galvatron then ordered his "Triple Changer Headmaster base" to transform to robot mode and deal with the enemy when the Technobots combined. Scorponok ripped a boulder out the nearby ground and bashed Computron with it. Technobots and Scorponok commercial
- In 1990, a Scorponok toy briefly appeared in the stop-motion animated toy segment of a commercial advertising the Hot Rod Patrol and Construction Patrol, which is then promptly replaced by a differently colored version of the toy (dark blue and white). Like his cel animated counterpart, he gets overwhelmed by his smaller foes, who blow up a bridge beneath him, sending him tumbling into a ravine with the rather unthreatening cry of "RAWRRR." Micromaster Patrols commercial
Games
Transformers: The Headmasters
As the Decepticons rampaged over Earth, Cybertron, and Chaar, Scorponok waited on the "Last Planet" for Fortress Maximus to show up and challenge him. And Fortress did. And he won. Transformers: The Headmasters
Angry Birds Transformers
Scorponok appears as a character unlockable in Challenge Events. He is portrayed by Corporal Pig. Angry Birds Transformers
Transformers Legends
Transformers Ultimate Allstars
Transformers Roleplaying Game
Scorponok was one of the largest Decepticons ever to exist. Along with his Headmaster partner Lord Zarak, he was a member of the Decepticon Conclave. Decepticon Directive Although Scorponok's cruelty and intelligence made him a dangerous foe, he struggled to work with his Headmaster partner. The Enigma of Combination
Transformers: Earth Wars
Toys
The Transformers
- Scorponok (Headmaster, 1987)
- Takara ID number: D-93
- Accessories: Helmet, Scorponok's anti-gravity gun, gun guard, Scorponok's shield, 1 Fastrack drone, 2 ramps, 4 dual photon cannons, 4 antenna, 2 leg shields, 1 claw arm, 1 side gun arm and 1 elevator.
- Known designers: Kunio Okawara (concept artist)
- The largest Decepticon toy in Generation 1 (yet still much smaller than Fortress Maximus despite fiction showing them as similar in size), Scorponok's beast mode is a robotic purple, green, and orange scorpion. The pincers have multiple points of articulation, and the ratcheting joints are strong enough to grasp a smaller Transformer. His eight legs are also independently jointed. There are two wheels with rubber grips underneath Scorponok's beast mode body, and pushing him along will cause the scorpion legs to move, simulating the motion of walking. Lord Zarak can sit inside the scorpion head/cockpit while in robot form, or he can be stored inside the chest compartment.
- Like many large Generation 1 Transformers, Scorponok has a base mode, with various ramps and towers for smaller Transformer toys to interact with, though it is quite out of scale for larger toys, such as his fellow Decepticon Headmasters. The central ramp (formed out of his beast tail) is designed with Fasttrack in mind and features a minor gimmick—placing Fasttrack on the orange panel and pressing the small black button will cause the back of the orange panel to rise, sending Fasttrack rolling down the ramp.
- As with all Headmasters, Scorponok has a flip-down panel on his chest which covers a spring-loaded mini-Tech-Spec-meter which gives readings for Speed, Strength and Intelligence. The tumblers are activated when Lord Zarak (or any other Headmaster unit) is plugged into his neck socket while in head mode. As Lord Zarak is about the same size as the Headmaster units of smaller Headmaster toys, Scorponok would thus have a pretty small noggin if not for the large helmet (that was the beast mode scorpion head) that is placed over the Headmaster. The helmet also features a flip-down visor, which was homaged in Energon Scorponok. The 2-part rifle and shield plug into Scorponok's pincers.
- Also, he has a die-cast ass.
- BlackZarak (The Headmasters, 1988)
- ID number: D-311
- Accessories: Scorponok Headmaster unit, face cover, two-piece "Tyrant Spear", "Black Hole Cannon", cannon cover, "Shield Tower"/"Plantium Shield", four "Blacking Cannons", two "Combat Ramps", two "Maintenance Arms", four "Radar Sensors", elevator
- This Japanese-exclusive retool of the original Scorponok figure redecoes the figure in black, gold, and red, and equips the figure with a new helmet/scorpion head that features a better-proportioned face sculpted directly into it. As such, it's not really necessary to plug the Scorponok Headmaster unit between the shoulders, since the new helmet-head conceals it completely, but it does fit. The figure includes a small red visor-like mask that clips over the robot mode face, hiding it from view for scorpion mode, and can be reattached to the central head-crest in robot mode to give him the iconic U-shaped floating brow piece.
- Super-God Masterforce BlackZarak comes with one major new accessory—his red, two-piece "Tyrant Spear", which he can hold in robot mode—and also includes all of Scorponok's original accessories, appropriately redecoed, including a gold redeco of Fasttrack named "Black Roritchi". BlackZarak is notoriously difficult to find complete, due to many of his accessories, and even body parts, suffering from Gold Plastic Syndrome. Even sealed specimens have horrified owners who opened the toys for the first time to discover broken parts on their previously-untouched toys.
- Like Sixshot and Overlord, with their respective "Wingwolf" and "space jet" alternate modes, BlackZarak's instructions do not feature the additional two-headed serpent mode, created as it was by the production staff after fiddling around with the toy and dubbed the "Dakatsu Mode". As such, it's entirely possible to transform the toy into this form, but if you try, be aware that it was seriously streamlined for animation, and doesn't look nearly as good in plastic as it does on the screen or comic page. (Also, if the toy hasn't shattered yet due to GPS, putting the toy into Dakatsu Mode will probably finish the job.)
Kre-O
- Scorponok (Micro-Changer, 2012)
- Kit number: A1011
- Bag number: 21451 1
- Known designerd: Ed Masiello (Hasbro)
- Part of a six-figure "preview" wave of Micro-Changer Kreons, Kre-O Scorponok is a blindpacked bagged mini-figure. He comes with extra parts which help him form a crude scorpion form.
- He uses Sideswipe's helmet and Vortex's body armor. His claws and "insect legs" come from the Battleship sets; the claws come from the alien Kreons, while his "legs" are rifle supports, which are also used for Waspinator's insect legs.
Timelines
- Pirates vs Knights (BotCon 2014 box set)
- Accessories: Two missiles
- Timelines "Pirate Scorponok" is a retool of Energon Ultra Class Scorponok, who transforms into both a scorpion-shaped construction vehicle thing and a spaceship. The vehicle is armed with decidedly non-scorpion-like double laser cannons behind each tread, two translucent orange laser cannons either side of his cockpit, and two flip-out laser cannons on the end of his crane arm, which are activated by pushing the small cockpit-shaped device (which also has a Mini-Con Powerlinx port) forwards. Inside his bucket scoops are two spring-loaded missile launchers in translucent housings. The right pincer houses his spark crystal while the left has another Mini-Con Powerlinx port. On Scorponok's pincers are 5 mm peg holes to accommodate all forms of Terrorcon and Omnicon Energon weaponry, as well as most other accessories featuring a similar peg system. In keeping with the trend for BotCon toys, the electronic sound feature from the original toy has been removed as a cost-cutting step.
- Most importantly, Scorponok has new tooling that replaces his head with a new mechanism for his Headmaster head, Olin Zarak, to plug into. The Headmaster figure itself is a retooled Encore Spike Witwicky figure with a new face based on Scorponok's original model sheet head.
- This figure features the same shoulder panel issues as Energon Scorponok, so care should be taken when handling the toy… there is a fix, however! On top of the already poorly designed panels on the front of the shoulders, this release features a misassembly to the back of the shoulders; the parts with the altmode ladders are assembled on the wrong sides. The pieces should be in the sloped-up orientation, allowing the arms to articulate properly, whereas the factory assembly has them sloped-down. To fix this, just undo the screws and swap the pieces around.
- Scorponok comes in a box set with fellow pirates Ferak, Tornado, and Cannonball, plus knights Ginrai and Devcon.
- The original version of this mold was redecoed into Timelines Double Punch, and retooled differently to make Dark Scorponok.
Titans Return
- Fengul & Grotusque / Scorponok (Multi-pack, 2017)
- Release date: October 5, 2017
- Titans Return Scorponok is a retool of Titans Return Titan Master Fangry, with a new face based on his appearance in "The Rebirth" episode arc. As a Titan Master, Scorponok can serve as the head of any Titans Return-style Deluxe, Voyager, or Leader Class figure. He also features ports in his feet that allow him to peg onto a wide variety of Titans Return figures. Like Ultra Magnus, he also features a fully-painted die-cast Titan Master torso and head-mode face.
- His special power is to grant his partner a "fusion-powered anti-gravity super fireblast boost" that leaves its targets "stranded in despair and isolation beyond the reach of medical assistance."[2] So, anyone not confused to death by the concept flail of the attack itself dies from emo.
- He came packaged with Grotusque and Fengul. First revealed at New York Comic Con 2017 on October 5, 2017, the Grotusque set was made immediately available on HasbroToyShop.com without warning, selling out in about three hours. It was later made available at Toys"R"Us.
| Titans Return mold: Fangry | ||
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War for Cybertron: Earthrise
- Scorponok (Titan Class, July 2020)
- Hasbro ID number: WFC-E25
- TakaraTomy ID number: ER-10
- TakaraTomy release date: November 28, 2020
- Accessories: 2 double shoulder cannons, Zarak Shield, 2 leg shields, 1 set of 3 combining "Fire Blast effect" parts, two antennae
- Known designers: John Warden, Thomas Maguire[3] (Hasbro), Shogo Hasui (TakaraTomy), Ken Christiansen (concept artist)
- Titan Class Earthrise Scorponok is the largest Transformers toy of 2020, at 21 inches tall. He is compatible with the Headmaster-styled play pattern of the 2016 Titans Return toyline, as well as the War for Cybertron Trilogy's A.I.R. Lock System and C.O.M.B.A.T. System. With this Earthrise release, the Generations toyline mostly closes the 1987 toyline size disparity between Scorponok and his original Autobot rival, as this Scorponok is only an inch and a half shorter than Titans Return Fortress Maximus. He transforms into a scorpion that takes the cake with the largest beast mode ever for a Transformers toy, and steals the headmaster-with-a-headmaster gimmick that has until now exclusively been Fortress Maximus's whole thing.
- This Scorponok features a head inspired by his appearance in "The Rebirth", while his main body hybridizes inspiration from "The Rebirth", The Headmasters, and the original toy. Scorponok's forehead and visor can be lifted to reveal a pair of green-painted eyes. The red visor can be removed via unscrewing, if one is so inclined to show Scorponok's eyes in robot mode. The head detaches and transforms to become the Deluxe-sized "Lord Zarak", based on Scorponok from the Headmasters cartoon. Zarak's own head detaches as Titan Master Lord Zarak,[4] the Nebulan from the American cartoon and comics. The Titan Master can then fit in a pilot seat compartment on the scorpion mode's back, or it can stand securely on the Titan Master-scaled foot pegs found in multiple places on the scorpion. The Deluxe-sized Lord Zarak/Scorponok head figure features optional less-prominent storage points on its back for Scorponok's large orange ear antennae, so that they don't have to hang from the panels on his shoulders.
- Scorponok comes with the Zarak Shield, though it is now assembled with help from parts on his legs. As per the package art, it can be kept as a shorter shield if the leg parts aren't used. Scorponok also comes with three "Fire Blast effect" parts, identical to Siege Jetfire's effects parts, only he comes with one set, rather than two. Scorponok's vehicular drone Fasttrack was released separately as a mass-retail Deluxe Class Weaponizer figure, and adds to his Scorponok's robot mode by transforming into a BlackZarak-style spear weapon.
- In city mode, a central hatch reveals a large hidden compartment designed to store Scorponok's head, with or without the smaller Titan Master attached. If one so chooses, the hatch can also be left all the way open, as the detail on the underside of the hatch lines up with the Zarak Shield's detail; together they replicate the G1 toys' window-esque detailing for the central tower—granted, this also leaves a giant open hole in the city mode, unless you fold the scorpion legs away to fill in the gap. Clips located at the end of ramps leading out from the sides of the city are compatible with other War for Cybertron Trilogy A.I.R. Lock System ramps, but there are no connection points for Titans Return-era ramps. Scorponok is the first cityformer to have no weapons while in city mode, though he has numerous 5 mm ports where weapons from other figures can be attached, and the two butt-flaps that form the center of the city modes' "crossroads", can be flipped up to reveal three molded rockets on the underside of each in the hollow texturing. The instructions, when showcasing his A.I.R. Lock System features, clearly showcase Sky Lynx attached to him, but he's erroneously identified as Astrotrain instead. Whoops.
- Shogo Hasui from the TakaraTomy design team noted that the figure was originally meant to include its clear face shield and other accessories resembling the G1 toy, but these had to be omitted due to budget cuts.[5]
- The engineering of the connection between Scorponok's head and body is similar enough to Titans Return Fortress Maximus to allow a half-measure of inter-compatibility: Scorponok's head will fit well enough into place on Fortress Maximus's body, but Cerebros and his mold mates will not fit on Scorponok's body, not even if you take away Scorponok's removable collar piece. Scorponok also comes with his tail disassembled in order to fit inside his packaging. Like his predecessors in the Titans Return play pattern, this toy makes no reference to the original Headmaster toys' mechanical Tech Spec gimmick, but his instructions do include Tech Specs printed in Cybertronian script for people to decipher.
- Like all Earthrise toys (with the exception of his Japanese release), Scorponok's package includes a segment of a larger star map, and a thin piece of red translucent plastic intended as a decoder for the map. Like Sky Lynx, Scorponok's "clip-and-save" map piece is pre-clipped, and care should be taken not to damage it while removing it from beneath the box's inner tray, near all the twist-tie knots. This very large map piece mostly shows the looming foreground location of UNICRON, as well as a legend for the markings on other map segments. This legend names five types of lines as: SPACE BRIDGE, ARK, NEMESIS, QUINTESSON, and FOOL'S FORTUNE.
- Scorponok was reissued in late 2024 with pre-orders listed on October of that year.
| Siege accessory mold: Jetfire's Fire Blast effects | ||
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Generations Selects
- Black Zarak (Titan Class, January 2022)
- Series: Legacy
- TakaraTomy release date: December, 2021
- Accessories: Titan Master, 2 double shoulder cannons, Zarak Shield, 2 leg shields, six-piece Tyrant Spear
- Known designers: Lenny Panzica (Hasbro)[3]
- The first Selects Titan Class toy, Black Zarak is a retool of Earthrise Scorponok and an add-on to the Legacy toyline. His deco and newly-molded head are highly accurate to his appearance in Super-God Masterforce. The head's own robot mode has a new battle-damaged chest, and an eyepatch that references Black Zarak's appearance in Zone. Interestingly, the exposed chest innards appear to be based the torso sculpt of Studio Series Scrapmetal, albeit upside-down.
- The toy includes the Tyrant Spear, which is composed of six separate pieces (three pieces of the spearhead, two for the shaft, and one bottom tip). It is meant to be stored in scorpion mode with the two shaft sections and the bottom tip on either side and the combined spearhead forming a larger stinger. The shaft has grooved areas allowing the robot mode claws to somewhat hold it, though, the hold isn't very tight, and moving the heavily ratcheted arms while it's in his claws, tends to shake it out of the grip anyway. If one chooses, Black Zarak can also accompany and use the previously released War for Cybertron Trilogy Selects Black Roritchi, although the two figures feature drastically different shades of gold.
- An extra instruction sheet mentions that the collar piece is not needed, and that attempting to install it may scratch the paint on the back of the head.[citation needed] It also goes without saying, but one can achieve the "Dakatsu Mode" configuration with this figure, though, the shoulders can't be positioned on top of the torso like the G1 toy, and it likewise doesn't stand on its own. Hey, at least it won't crumble!
- Having been announced for pre-order 9 months prior to Black Zarak's shipping date, his TransformersTuesday announcement stock images were digitally colored prototype photographs. Said stock images' backgrounds also had "VICTORY" written in Ancient Autobot, much like Generations Selects Deep Cover.
- Black Zarak was released as a TakaraTomy Mall exclusive in Japan.
Merchandise
Parody Deformed
- MegaZarak (1990)
- A small white and red, non-transforming super deformed model kit of Scorponok was available as part of Kabaya's "Parody Deformed" line of candy toys. The fourteenth figure in the series, he came with a PDTF Comic about himself, "Watch Out! MegaZarak!", and something that could charitably be described as "gum".
Super Collection Figure
- Devastor (2001)
- Ginrai (2001)
- Go Shooter (2001)
- Metalhawk (with Minerva) (2001)
- Omega Supreme (2001)
- Overlord (2001)
- Act: 5
- Accessories: Spear
- BlackZarak was the "Build-A-Figure" from the fifth, Masterforce-centric wave of Takara's line of Super Collection Figure PVC figurines, available in eight out of every ten cases. He was divided into six parts, each one packaged with one of the silver metallic "pewter" versions of the other six figurines in the line (the regular, color versions of the figures didn't come with BlackZarak parts): his head and torso came with Ginrai, his left arm with Goshooter, his right arm with Metalhawk and Minerva, his waist and backpack with Devastator, his left leg with Omega Supreme, and his right leg with Overlord.
- BlackZarak's parts were available in both full-color and smokey translucent plastic, in an equal ratio of 4 out of every 10 cases each, making two versions of the figure to collect. The tint of the clear parts can vary, with some taking a darker-amber tone; this appears to be simply a matter of the plastic batch being off-color, not a result of any kind of photodegradation.
- He is also the rare SCF figure to come with a removable accessory... though "removable" might not be the right word, as he has no secure method of holding his Tyrant Spear. It just kind of has to sit in his right closed claw, letting gravity do its job.
- Alpha Trion (2002)
- Cyclonus (2002)
- Dai Atlas (2002)
- Fortress (2002)
- Meister (2002)
- Star Convoy (2002)
- Act: 8
- Like BlackZarak before him, this version of "MegaZarak" was the build-a-figure from the line's eighth wave. He is a heavy reworking of BlackZarak, sharing only the torso, waist, arms and shield (and the shoulder parts have been altered to remove the gun-connector pegs on the back). Like BlackZarak, there was both a regular full-color figure to collect (available in six out of every ten cases) as well as a rarer variant version, this time in metallic silver (available in four out of every ten cases).
- His six components were packaged with the regular color versions of the other figurines in the line: his head and torso came with Fortress, his left arm with Dai Atlas, his right arm with Star Convoy, his pelvis with Jazz, his left leg with Alpha Trion, and his right leg with Cyclonus.
- The pewter version of the figure has a potential problem with connector peg breakage, due to said pegs often getting a layer of pewter paint before being forced into a socket, leading to sticking and tearing. Care should be used when moving or removing the arms and waist (that's a lot of weight on one tiny peg!); shaving down the socket interior with a thin hobby knife is usually sufficient to fix the issue.
Gigantic Action
- Scorponok (2014)
- Accessories: Rifle, shield, visor, four cannons
- Produced by Japanese toy company Sentinel as part of the Transformers 30th anniversary celebrations, Transformers Gigantic Action MegaZarak/Scorponok is a huge non-transforming action figure based on the character's appearance in The Headmasters but with details drawn from the original toy. It stands at close to 23" tall (58 cm), finally allowing Scorponok to rival the size of the original Fortress Maximus toy.
- BlackZarak (2014)
- Accessories: Rifle, shield, four cannons
- Gigantic Action BlackZarak is a redeco/retool of MegaZarak with a new head, but does not include the Tyrant Spear.
Jada Toys
- Transformers Series 2 18-pack (4 cm Die Cast Figure Multipack, 2022)
- Released by Jada Toys, Nano Metalfigs Scorponok is an incredibly small die-cast figurine molded doing an action pose. He has a little base attached to his feet for balancing reasons.
- He comes in an impressive multipack with seventeen other figurines.
Notes
- Scorponok's colors are distributed differently in the 1987 and 1988 toy catalogs as compared to the finished product.
- Bob Budiansky early treatment for the Headmaster's miniseries use the name Imperius for Scorponok. It's unclear if it was ever used outside this outline.
- Both Scorponok and Fortress Maximus suffer from the writers struggling to reconcile the characters' high rank with their size. In their comic appearances, they are portrayed as commanders in some capacity but are shrunk down to interact with other Transformers, and their city modes pretty much don't exist. Conversely, the cartoons have opted to portray them as giant city Transformers, though they seem to be merely extensions of the smaller beings that bond with them, with no real life or will of their own.
- The Action Master Elite Double Punch's mold looks just like an Action Master version of BlackZarak, right down to the molded details, including the head. The coloring (black/red/purple) is similar to BlackZarak's coloring (black/red/gold) as well. This is very strange, considering that Japan never got Action Masters, and Europe never got BlackZarak.
- Scorponok served as the basis for the evil "Zazorigun" (ザゾリガン Zazorigan, a play on サソリ sasori meaning "scorpion") mecha in Takara's Brave of Gold Goldran series. Unlike fellow Goldran baddie Death Garrygun (who was derived from Sky Garry), no toy or merchandise of Zazorigun was ever released. A toy was planned, but Death Garrygun was chosen instead just before broadcast, so the opening uses Death Garrygun in place of Zazorigun.[6]
- Omni Productions dialogue scripts for The Headmasters, included on the R2 release of the series, feature a number of different, bizarre names for Scorponok, including "Bronco" in episode 7, "Locke"/"Lok" and "Jart" in episode 9, and "Sogi" and "Chandler" in later episodes. While the final English dub just calls him Scorponok, variations of these names were actually used in the Latin American dub based on the same scripts, leading to some inconsistencies with Scorponok's name. On his first appearance, Galvatron calls him "Lok". Later, Skullcruncher calls him "Gronko" (episode 7 only), later in the series, he's named "Scorponok", and during the space travel event, he's called "'Chandler", the last two names being the most used during the Headmasters series. It should be noted that no name makes a distinction between Scorponok and his Transtector.
- Scorponok disappeared from IDW's original Transformers continuity for a long time between 2009's Maximum Dinobots #5 and 2017's Lost Light #9. Though not expressly stated at the time of the former, it was generally presumed he had been taken to Garrus-9. Picking up on this plot thread, both Scorponok and Grimlock were originally intended to be large players in Last Stand of the Wreckers. Scorponok (his consciousness taken out of Abraham Dante and put back in his body by Shockwave) would have acted as Overlord's go to guy for crazy science and would develop nucleon as a steroid analogue. The nucleon would power fighters up but damage their mental state. Scorponok would have solved the problem of not having a head by stealing Fortress Maximus's. Grimlock would have been dosed up on nucleon, trapping him in his dinosaur form, and rendering him a psychotic beast. Overlord was to have gone on to use him as the final opponent for anyone who progressed far enough in the arena. It was then intended that Overlord's defeat would come from the Wreckers knocking him into the arena with the enraged Grimlock. Although Grimlock did indeed have a minor part in the series, it was decided to deliberately minimalize any 'big name' characters at Garrus-9 so as not to overshadow the Wreckers.[7][8]
- The Scorponok that appears in the Japanese Kre-O Transformers manga is not based on the toy, which wasn't released in Japan, but on Generation 1 Scorponok's head unit as it appeared in The Headmasters. Like all non-toy robot Kreons in these comics, he is made up of existing Kre-O parts, namely the Ironhide helmet.
- Scorponok's original bio quote, "Kindness is no virtue... and cruelty is no vice," would appear to be a riff on American 1964 Republican presidential nominee Barry Goldwater's acceptance speech, "I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice... And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue." Goldwater remained a large political name for the following 20 years and Ronald Reagan had recently awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1986, a year before Scorponok's release, so it would have been a timely reference.
Foreign names
- Japanese: Scorponok (スコルポノック Sukoruponokku), MegaZarak (メガザラック Megazarakku), BlackZarak (ブラックザラック Burakkuzarakku), Scorpion (The Rebirth, スコーピオン Sukōpion)
- Hungarian: Skorponok[9]
- Italian: Scorpion (Scorponok and BlackZarak), Lord Zarak (MegaZarak)
- Mandarin: Zarak Jùrén (萨克巨人 Sàkè Jùrén, "Giant Zarak")
- Russian: Skorponog (cartoon, Скорпоног, "Scorpoleg")
- Spanish: Lok, Gronko, Chandler, Scorponok (all Latin America, see above)
- Ukrainian: Skorpiy (cartoon, Скорпій, "Scorpius")
References
- ↑ Earthrise webpage
- ↑ Bio note in Grotusque's instruction sheet
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 TRIPLE TAKEOVER | #58: Talking Transformers with Hasbro (featuring Bmac & Mark Maher)
- ↑ The smaller Lord Zarak Titan Master figure is unnamed on Scorponok's packaging and instructions, but is labeled as "Lord Zarak" on the back of the package for Earthrise Fasttrack.
- ↑ https://www.tfw2005.com/boards/threads/english-translation-figure-king-270-july-2020-shogo-hasui-interview-on-earthrise-scorponok.1215648/ Interview about the Titan Scorponok design process
- ↑ "11話ですが空中要塞ザゾリガンが早くも退場。元々トランスフォーマーのメガザラックのリデコで商品をで出す予定だったけど放送直前にスカイギャリーに変更になった。OPはデスギャリガンに差し替えが間に合った。"—Shinji Takamatsu, Twitter, 2022/10/17
- ↑ Auto Assembly 2010 Last Stand of the Wreckers Panel
- ↑ Moonbase 2's AA2010 interview, 30:06 - 31:03
- ↑ The spelling suggests the name should be pronounced "Shkorponok", but instead the pronunciation used is as if it were spelt "Szkorponok".
- Character stubs missing fiction
- Character stubs missing video games
- Articles needing citations
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