Tentakil (Masterforce)

Tentakils are Decepticon Seacons from the Super-God Masterforce portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.

Squidhead?

Tentakils (テンタキル Tentakiru) are devoid of sentience, like all the Seacons commanded by Turtler, serving only as mindless mass-produced drone warriors designed to overwhelm their opponents by numbers. They can fire jets of poisonous ink, and perform vicious sustained barrage attacks with their ten legs.

The Tentakils can combine with the rest of the Seacons to form King Poseidon.

Fiction

Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity

Super-God Masterforce cartoon

Headshot! SLICE!

When Decepticon Pretender Dauros attacked a Japanese city in an attempt to draw out the Autobot Pretenders, he brought a pair of Tentakils with them, which began their assault by destroying an oil refinery in the dead of night. Autobot Pretender leader Metalhawk arrived to battle the drones, but as he tangled with one, another snuck up behind his human friend Shūta Gō and seized the boy. Metalhawk was able to destroy the first Tentakil, but was then attacked by the Decepticon Pretenders and was badly outnumbered until his fellow Autobot Pretenders arrived to aid him. With his allies occupying the Decepticon Pretenders, Metalhawk destroyed the second Tentakil and saved Shūta. Rise Up!! Pretenders On a later mission to disrupt the wildlife of Africa, more Tentakils again accompanied the Decepticon Pretenders in battle against the Autobots, and met a similar end at the hands of Metalhawk's Titanium Saber. Panic! Protect the Wild Animals!!

With the debut of the Seacon commander Turtler on the battlefield, at least one Tentakil would usually be present in order to combine with its leader as the right leg of the giant King Poseidon. Eliminate the Godmaster Ginrai The Seacon combiner battled Autobot Godmaster Ginrai on an island off the coast of America Heroism!! The Birth of Super Ginrai and in Canada, Lightfoot: A Dramatic Encounter but during a battle in the French town of Dagneux, the Seacons were wiped out before Turtler could even give the order to combine, leaving only two rather unhappy Tentakils plaintively flailing their tentacles amid the destruction. Assemble! The Four Godmaster Gunmen

No... IT WAS MY LIFE TO BE TAKEN! NOT THIS! NEVER THIS!

A swarm of Seacons later backed up the Decepticon Pretenders in a battle on Atlan Island, where a Tentakil had the misfortune of going up against Lightfoot's Land Waterfall attack and losing explosively. Save the Little Girl! The Chōjin Warriors, the Godmasters

Tentakils were among the swarms of Seacons that besieged British Motors alongside Hydra and Buster and were destroyed by the Autobot Godmasters, Life? Death? The Desperate Lightfoot and vast numbers of them attacked Lightfoot in the waters off the coast of Australia when the Autobot investigated the Decepticons' activities in the area. Escape!! The Underwater Volcano Erupts Numerous Tentakils joined in the Decepticons' all-out assault on the Autobot headquarters, tearing their way into the base and destroying it from within, Disaster! The Autobot Base Explodes and more of the sea-beasts joined in occupying the Autobots' attentions when the powerful Decepticon BlackZarak began cutting a swathe of destruction across Earth. BlackZarak - Destroyer from Space

When Ginrai approached Decepticon Base in order to rescue his captive comrade Shūta Gō, several Seacons, including some Tentakils, were patrolling the perimeter and attacked him, forcing him to blast out the base's airlock, sucking himself and his opponents inside. At the same time, a Tentakil was also spotted in Geneva, battling Ranger and the Autobot Pretenders alongside the Decepticon Pretenders. Subsequently, a Tentakil was always handy for the formation of King Poseidon, inside the Decepticon base, God Ginrai: Showdown at the Decepticon Base in a battle on its roof, The Ultimate Combination!! BlackZarak, the New Lifeform in the Grand Canyon, Autobots! Desperate Attack!! and in the Alps, where the Seacons had their final battle with Ginrai, and were once again defeated and destroyed. Malevolent and Inhuman! The True Form of Devil Z Whether or not any Tentakils remained on Earth following the destruction of Decepticon emperor Devil Z and the departure of most of the Transformers from the planet is unknown. A Battle... and Then...

Generations Selects Special Comic

In 2020, Tentakil lay deactivated after King Poseidon's final defeat at the hands of God Ginrai.

Upon traveling to the Precursor World, Turtler rebuilt his supply of Seacon drones using Angolmois Energy. Overbite and Tentakil joined the other drones on the Blue Planet, where Turtler and the Seacons fought with Optimus Prime over the Star Power contained in his Silver Matrix. Tentakil and the Seacons now had robot modes, which Turtler proudly displayed to his enemy before combining with them to form King Poseidon. Seacons comic 5

King Poseidon later assembled an army of Seacons to battle Ultra Megatron Omega, but it proved fruitless. Super Megatron comic 2

In time, Turtler felt appreciated by the Beast People of the Blue Planet, and assumed the role of their benevolent "king" and protector. He directed his Seacons to defend the beasts when their world was threatened by Primus's machinations. Finale Prelude He used a Tentakil to form Scramble 7 combination when the Blue Planet was invaded by Megatron's New Primus Vanguard. Other Tentakil's seemed particularly interested in caring for the Space Pirate, Scylla. Finale

Zone cartoon

Years after the Masterforce War, the Seacons, including one Tentakil, were recruited by the supernatural new Emperor of Destruction Violengiguar. Although they never appeared in their individual forms, as King Poseidon, they attacked Earth in search of the Zodiac and were destroyed by the new Autobot Supreme Commander, Dai Atlas. Enter the New Supreme Commander, Dai Atlas!

Comic continuity

Super-God Masterforce manga

A Tentakil was first seen when the Decepticons attempted to dupe the Autobots with holographic images of legendary Decepticons of years past. It joined with its fellow Seacons in forming King Poseidon for an attack on the Autobots, only to be defeated by the new-born Super Ginrai. Burn, Chokon! New Commander Super Ginrai! Later, when Turtler led a Decepticon attack on the planet Athenia and merged with various other Decepticons to create "Scramble 7", a Tentakil served as a hand-held weapon for the mis-matched combiner, which was soon destroyed by Ginrai. The Battle Begins! The Earth-Space Alliance Army

Zone manga and story pages

The Seacons, including a Tentakil, were recruited by the supernatural new Emperor of Destruction Violengiguar. Appearing only in their combined form of King Poseidon, the team battled the Autobots on the planet Wall, Zone story page #3 and were later defeated by the new Autobot commander Dai Atlas when they attacked Earth in search of the Zodiac. Zone It is unclear if the Seacons survived their clash with Dai Atlas; they did not reappear, suggesting they may have been destroyed, but Predaking and Trypticon, who were also blasted by Dai Atlas, were both shown to have survived the experience. Zone story page #6

Toys

Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers

• Tentakil (Seacon, 1988)

• ID number: D-317
• Accessories: Left & right "Laser Guns", "Tripod Rifle", connector, weapon stand base

Released in the fourth year of Takara's Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers line under the Super-God Masterforce banner, Tentakil is identical to the Hasbro-release Tentakil, transforming into a pink and blue robotic squid-monster. Its two blaster weapons can be mounted on either side of the squid-mode head.

The guns also plug together to form the barrel of Tentakil's third mode; an artillery emplacement that mounts on top of a stand formed from three individual components. The central piece of this stand, the "Tripod Rifle", can also be wielded as a weapon by robot-mode Tentakil.

Tentakil can also transform into either an arm or leg compatible with any "Scramble City"-style combiner, though its nominal placement is as the left leg to King Poseidon; thanks to Poseidon's unique fists, Tentakil's artillery mode can also be used as a hand-held weapon by the Seacon super robot.

• More information on Tentakil at TFU.info

• Kingposeidon [sic] (Seacon gift set, 1988)

• ID number: D-318

Tentakil was sold both as an individual, and in a large King Posiedon box set. All of the toys in the set are identical to their individual releases.

Unlike the Hasbro Seacon box-set, which excludes Nautilator, the King Poseidon set comes with all six members of the team: Turtler, Gulf, Kraken, Lobclaw, Overbite, and Tentakil.

Generations Selects

• Seacons Tentakil (Deluxe, 2020)

• Release date: March 28, 2020
• Hasbro ID number: TT-GS08
• Accessories: Laser guns, Cleaver, combiner hand/gun mode handle, hand gap filler/gun

A TakaraTomy-initiated addition to the Generations Selects series, "Seacons Tentakil" is an extensive, and we mean extensive (as in, "barely any original parts left and those are mostly structural and thus retains the same basic transformation") retooling of Power of the Primes Deluxe Class Moonracer, transforming once again into a bipedal squid-monster, though this time with way-stumpier leg-tentacles.

Just as with his original toy, it is able to form any limb for any Combiner Wars-style super robot, with its nominal place as the left leg to King Poseidon, plus it also retains his artillery mode, which can again be used as a hand-held cannon by compatible combiners. Like the other Generations Selects Seacons, Tentakil has newly-tooled combiner hands with individually-posable fingers, which also form the base of the Targetmaster-style gun mode, with the handle being a Combiner Wars styled port that plugs in to the hand provided in this set. The hand can be plugged onto the back of the feet in the combined mode for extra stability, whilst Turtler's feet components are at the front. It also has a new multi-bladed cleaver/scythe-thing, which combines with the other Seacons' melee weapons to form King Poseidon's oversized trident-sword.

Tentakil was released as a TakaraTomy Mall exclusive in Japan, as part of the third of three mini-waves of Seacons alongside Ovebite. The Seacons were also available via Hasbro Pulse and other online retailers in the U.S. and Canada.

This mold was later retooled as Skyulle. The original iteration of the mold was also used to make Novastar, Greenlight, and Lancer.

Merchandise

Transformers Gum

• King Poseidon Set B (1988)
  • Accessories: Blaster

Released as part of the series 10 lineup of Kabaya candy kits, Tentakil was available in as set along with fellow Seacons Gulf, Lobclaw, and Kraken. Despite being a snap-together model kit, it is functionally a downsized version of the larger toy, retaining the combining functions. Since the kit is gang molded with the other Seacons, some of the plastic colors are a bit off. Common among Kabaya kits, it relies on stickers for added detail.

Tentakil can become an arm, leg, or cannon for King Poseidon.

• Tentakil (2015)
  • Accessories: Blasters, King Poseidon foot

Part of the tenth wave of Kabaya's standard snap together kits, Tentakil can transform from monstrous squid creature to robot, though you need to partsform his robot legs to do so. He can combine with the concurrently released Seacons to create King Poseidon.

Tentakil and the other Seacons are compatible with the Gaia Scramble combiner limbs released a few years prior.

Notes

• Prior to 2020's Generation Selects Comics, none of the Super-God Masterforce Seacons were ever depicted in robot mode in the cartoon or manga. The toy's package art is the only known "fictional" depiction of a Tentakil in robot mode.

Foreign names

• Mandarin: Wǎng Zhuǎ Yāo (网爪妖, "Net-Claw Demon")
• Russian: Kleshnya (Клешня, "Claw")