Submarauder (G1)

Submarauder is a Decepticon Pretender from the Generation 1 continuity family.

"What do they got, a lot of sand? We've got a hot crustacean band!"

Submarauder is silent, sly, and sinister, at peace only in solitude deep below the sea. But if his reverie is ever disturbed, he explodes in furious anger.^[1] His fellow Decepticons wonder why he is so fascinated by the underwater world; in truth, like his teammate Iguanus, Submarauder has developed an intense connection with the creatures resembling his own Pretender shell. At heart a reclusive and scholarly intellectual, he finds great satisfaction in observing sea life and pondering the ocean's mysteries, so much so that he sometimes neglects to return to base for refueling. His hair-trigger temper is fueled by a deep respect for sea creatures and a desire to protect them from any Autobots who dare intrude in his domain. Fellow Decepticons aren't safe either if he thinks they're a threat to marine life. Some say that he can even communicate with and command sea creatures.^[2]

Submarauder carries a proton cannon that can also be mounted on his submarine mode. His outer shell's serrated claws can shred battleships, and it also carries a torpedo rifle and an organic-steel sword.^[1]

Fiction

Marvel Comics continuity

Marvel The Transformers comics

Warpath was handling foley that day.

After commandeering a genetics research lab on Earth, Scorponok was able to recreate and perfect the science of Pretender shells using synthoplasmic chambers constructed by him and Vorath. Submarauder was one of six Decepticon volunteers transformed by the process into new Pretenders. After the process was completed, the Decepticons detected a digital eavesdropper. Submarauder and the other Pretenders were ordered to the source of the disturbance, the office buildings of Alternate Reality, Inc. Here they met the newly created Autobot Pretenders in battle, who were being led by a digital copy of Optimus Prime. Prime's strategic prowess tipped the battle in the Autobots' favor, and the Decepticon Pretenders were forced to withdraw. Pretender to the Throne!

Soon, Scorponok's Decepticons met with the other group of Decepticons on Earth, led by Ratbat. When their ship arrived, it was attacked by Ratbat's Decepticons due to some trickery on Starscream's part. When Submarauder and a handful of other Decepticons disembarked, the confusion was cleared up, though the seeds of discord had already been planted between both groups. When Starscream later led Scorponok to discover that Ratbat was secretly pursuing the legendary database, the Underbase, this information stoked tempers again. The two Decepticon factions fought bitterly over claim to the Underbase's power. Cold War! This halted only when both sides realized the extent of Starscream's machinations; he had pitted the factions against each other while leaving to take the Underbase for himself. After Starscream succeeded in absorbing part of the Underbase, Submarauder was part of an Autobot/Decepticon alliance who waited in Tokyo for him. The Decepticon Pretenders and the Predacons jumped Starscream once he arrived. The Predacons were destroyed easily, but Starscream grew frustrated when his attacks had little effect on the Pretenders. Ultimately, Starscream tossed Grimlock into the crossfire and made his escape. Dark Star

The original Jersey Shore was a flop, but viewer surveys still give Submarauder's dormant, gaping shell an edge over Snooki.

Afterwards, Scorponok took command of the surviving Decepticons and moved them to an underground base within a New Jersey swamp facing New York City. The base would be powered by a massive machine that would convert energy into energon, and Scorponok ordered Submarauder and Finback to lay a cable from the machine across the Hudson River into the city. After evading the Micromaster Off Road Patrol, the Decepticon Pretenders reached the other side of the river, where Iguanus ordered Submarauder and Finback to guard the end of the cable. Unfortunately, Iguanus was damaged by lightning, ending their mission. King Con! Later, Submarauder was on stand by when Zarak observed Roadhandler's wrestling match, and ferried the Decepticon leader back to their base on the New Jersey shores. The Interplanetary Wrestling Championship!

Transformers Comic-Magazin

Submarauder 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

When the Decepticons stole nuclear missiles, the Autobots sent their Classic Pretenders to infiltrate the Decepticon base. The ensuing battle had Submarauder knocked out by the fight between Bumblebee and Megatron. Megatron's Ultimatum

At another point, Bomb-Burst, Skullgrin, and Submarauder attempted to stop the Race Car Patrol and the Off Road Patrol from joining a mission to stop Decepticons from gathering spilled oil in Alaska, but they failed in this task. Headmaster of the Dimensions The trio were also part of a wave of Decepticon attacks on oil refineries, but their raid was cut short when the Autobot Pretenders chased them into an ambush by other Autobots. He Who Laughs Last... Submarauder, among others, was discussed as part of simulation accidentally triggered by Goldbug. Memories of Bumblebee

Dreamwave Generation One continuity

His secret weakness: put him on dry land, and he loses all his personality.

Submarauder served as a member of Ratbat's Ultracon faction during the Dark Ages. He was present at Tyger Pax for the signing of the peace treaty between Ratbat, Shockwave, and Ultra Magnus. He fought alongside various Autobots and Decepticons against the Predacons when they interrupted the proceedings. The Age of Wrath

2005 IDW continuity

• First Appearance: Transformers: Robots in Disguise #12

After the Chaos War, Submarauder was one of the Decepticons who started rioting on the streets of Cybertron in celebration of Megatron's return. City on Fire

Submarauder remained in the Decepticon ghettos outside of Metroplex after the Necrotitan event. The Transgressors He was lured back into the Decepticon movement by Galvatron and Needlenose. Lagrange

2019 IDW continuity

Submarauder was a member of the terrorist organization Mayhem on Velocitron. He took part in a pirate broadcast engineered to instill fear in the populace by threatening the popular Speedia 500 race, used to pick the planet's First Senator. Tread & Circuits Part 1

When the race began, Mayhem struck at several places on the race course to make their point. Submarauder and Axer attacked towards the front of the procession, blasting several racers like Override, Sideways, and Road Rocket out of competition. Thunderclash of the Wreckers caught up with them and tackled Submarauder, but Security Operations turned up and drew attention away from Submarauder. He exited his outer Pretender shell and escaped in the confusion. Knock Out of the Ascenticon party escaped Mayhem's assault and won the Speedia, becoming the new First Senator. Tread & Circuits Part 3

At the swearing-in ceremony, Submarauder took to the balcony of the Senate. He had a harpoon gun aimed at Knock Out when the First Senator took the stage. Minerva grabbed his arm, but Knock Out was still struck dead center in the chest. Making his retreat, Submarauder abandoned his shell again, this time detonating explosives hidden within it. Minerva was found dazed at the scene of the crime carrying his weapon. Beneath his shell, Submarauder had been a member of Security Operations all along. With the assistance of the complicit Knock Out, the Ascenticons easily framed Minerva for the attack, and Velocitron was declared for the Decepticons. Tread & Circuits Part 4

Power of the Primes marketing material

Submarauder was a Prime Master who housed the spark energy of Alchemist Prime, able to grant mystical scientific abilities to other Transformers. Power of the Primes Submarauder / Alchemist Prime online bio

War for Cybertron Trilogy cartoon

We all float in here.

Alchemist Prime, wearing his Submarauder decoy armor, was seen floating around in the Dead Universe. Earthrise episode 5

Commercial appearances

Shortly after the Autobots developed Pretenders, the Decepticons learned to duplicate the process. Their own foray into this technology yielded Submarauder, Bomb-Burst, and Skullgrin. The Decepticon Pretenders forced their way into the Autobot research lab that birthed their heroic counterparts, where they proved just as capable of splitting from the shells to fight on two fronts each. Submarauder faced off against Waverider in the ensuing fight. Pretenders commercial

Toys

The Transformers

Me and my friends get no respect. What does Scooby do that we neglect?

• Submarauder (Pretender, 1988)

• Accessories: Pretender shell, sword, torpedo rifle, shield, belt
• Known designers: Masakatsu Saito (concept artist), Richard Marcej (packaging)

Released in the fifth year of the original The Transformers toyline (fourth in European matkets) as part of the first assortment of Pretenders, Submarauder transforms into a cybertronic submarine thing that's vague and purple. His gun is mounted on his back in this mode.

His outer Pretender Shell is a sea creature guy with gills, a head-mounted dorsal fin, and scales. The shell wields Submarauder's sword and gun, and can mount his shield on his upper arm. Or you can mount the gun on the arm and have him hold the shield if you're feeling punchy. The sword though, that's hand-held only.

This toy was released in Japan without changes as Gilmer.

• More information on Submarauder at TFU.info

Power of the Primes

• Alchemist Prime (Prime Master, 2018)

• TakaraTomy ID number: PP-10
• TakaraTomy release date: June 30, 2018
• Accessories: "Submarauder" decoy armor, trident-blaster
• Known designers: John Warden (Hasbro)

Released in the second wave of Power of the Primes Prime Masters, Alchemist Prime is a tiny robot (the same size and general construction of a Titan Master) that comes with a "decoy armor" based on Submarauder's Pretender shell, which can transform into a large weapon-mode which can be held by other toys. The flip-out "blaster" part can also detach from the armor and be held in its 3 mm-compatible hand.

The inner Prime Master robot can store inside the decoy armor or ride Legends Class figures in vehicle mode, and is fully compatible with toys from the previous Titans Return line. The "Power Swap" gimmick means its spark form can plug onto any decoy armor's weapon form (which has a 5 mm post to be held by larger figures), Deluxe Class figures' chest armor, Voyager Class figures' bucklers, Leader Class figures' Matrix (in place of their Matrix core), combiners' torsos (in place of their Enigma of Combination), or the Scepter of Sparks. With the power of your imagination, this bestows the Prime Master's unique power on the larger figure.

Alchemist Prime was retooled with a new Prime Master sigil as Nexus Prime.

Notes

• Submarauder's character model in the Marvel comics was a straight-up, less-detailed repurposing of Takara concept art by Masakatsu Saito, rather than a Marvel Productions/Toei-original model.
• Submarauder's Pretender shell was used as a design basis for one of Meltdown's experiments in Animated cartoon, as well as the fish people of the Infestation 2 comic series.
• Unlike his classic wavemates Skullgrin and Bomb-Burst, Submarauder did not debut in IDW Publishing's Stormbringer with a new mechanical design mostly based on the classic Pretender shell, nor did the continuity have an apparently separate Cybertronian based on his Japanese counterpart, Gilmer. Although never referred to by name, Submarauder would hence make sporadic appearances in Robots in Disguise consistently having the inner robot design until making a final cameo appearance in Optimus Prime #20 drawn according to the Pretender shell design, alongside a similarly altered Skullgrin no less. Life is funny.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Submarauder (サブマローダー Sabumarōda)
• French: Sousmaraudeur (Canada, "Submarauder")
• German: Submaroder (Condor Verlag comics)^[3]
• Italian: Reptilo

References