Octane (Transformers)

Octane is a fictional character in the various Transformers universes.

Transformers: Generation 1

Octane/Tankor

Generation 1 Octane box art.
Decepticon
Information
Sub-group	Deluxe Vehicles, Predacon, Triple Changer
Function	Fueler
Rank	5
Motto	"He who has fuel, has power."
Alternate modes	Tanker truck/Boeing 767 jet, M978 tanker/C-130 Hercules
Series	Transformers: Generation 1 Transformers: Universe
English voice actor	Beau Weaver

Octane is the Decepticons' fueler, in charge of storing and distributing fuel among Decepticons with vehicle modes. He is characterized as a mean-spirited bully, who takes delight in seeing others suffer. In jet mode, he is said to make other planes (even other Decepticons) crash-land for fun. Being one of the three Decepticon Triple Changers, Octane can transform between a robot mode and two vehicle modes: a tanker truck and a Boeing 767 jet. After losing the rights to the original trademark many years after his introduction, Hasbro assigned the name Tankor to the character.

Animated series

In the original Generation 1 cartoon, Octane only appeared in the third season. It is implied, however, that he existed in the Decepticon ranks during and even prior to The Transformers: The Movie, though he is not seen in the feature. Octane first appears in "Five Faces of Darkness Part 1" where it is presumed that he is among the Decepticons exiled from Cybertron during the movie. His eventual alliance with Starscream, in which the two refer to each other as old friends, further implies Octane's status as having originally served under Megatron.

In the episode "Thief in the Night", Octane deserted the Decepticons and fled to Carbombya and there he discovered Trypticon. The city-sized Decepticon had been knocked into the ocean after his last battle with Metroplex. Repairing him, Octane used Trypticon as a bargaining chip, securing enough oil to convert to energon for himself, attacking Carbombya's enemies in return. When Trypticon's energon consumption spiraled out of control, Octane was forced to blow his cover by sending him to steal various world monuments to pacify Carbombya's dictator. This alerted Autobot leader Rodimus Prime, who was able to foil his scheme. Even more worryingly for Octane, it attracted the attention of his former leader Galvatron, who put a price on his head for his treachery.

During his desertion, Octane collaborated with the Autobot Triple Changer Sandstorm to avoid getting captured. The two unlikely allies would end up dodging both Galvatron's troops and hired bounty hunters on Octane's trail. Sandstorm would help him escape to Cybertron.

His respite did not last long. In the episode "Starscream's Ghost", Octane fled into the Decepticon crypt, pursued by Cyclonus, Scourge and the Sweeps. About to be caught and executed, the Triple Changer received help from an unlikely source — the ghost of Starscream, who had been killed by Galvatron in The Transformers: The Movie. Possessing Cyclonus, Starscream allowed Octane to escape, and the two formed a scheme to eliminate Galvatron by tricking and abandoning him alone with Rodimus Prime, Ultra Magnus and several other Autobots. The scheme failed, as Galvatron successfully fought his way out of the trap and sent the duo fleeing once more. Octane does not appear in the follow-up episode also featuring the ghost of Starscream, "Ghost in the Machine." He does make a background appearance in "The Ultimate Weapon," but this may be an animation error (Blitzwing also makes an appearance in this episode, and both Decepticons had been exiled from the ranks by Galvatron).

According to officials who worked on the series, the storylines spotlighting Octane in the end of season three were originally written for Blitzwing. It was Blitzwing who was estranged from the Decepticons at the beginning of the third season, and Octane getting stuck in mid-transformation when meeting Starscream would have been more appropriate for Blitzwing, who is known to suffer from this problem. Hasbro requested that Octane be substituted for Blitzwing in the story because Octane was a newer toy that they wanted to promote.

Comics

Marvel Comics

In the Marvel U.S. Generation 1 series, Octane debuted along with Astrotrain and Blitzwing, serving as workers in Ratbat's new "Wash'n'Roll" project. Unfortunately, the spaceship that had brought the parts of Wash'n'Roll from Cybertron to Earth was infected by Scraplets. The infection spread to the Triple Changers and almost killed them, but Goldbug and his human friend Charlie Fong saved them along with the infected Autobots.

After participating in the attack on the Autobots to recover captive Decepticons, Octane was amongst those Decepticons on the front-line of offensive against invaders believed to be the Autobots in the Arctic (in reality it was Scorponok's faction of Decepticons) and was present during the meeting between Ratbat and Scorponok. Octane was responsible for being the Decepticon that informed Ratbat, that Scorponok's troops were attacking their base caused by the secret of the Underbase being revealed in error. As he rushed into battle with the rest of his fellow warriors, Octane was seen to be attacking the Terrorcon Rippersnapper. After the battle, Octane was amongst those Decepticons carrying their fallen comrades back to the base to be repaired he was pushing the remains of Tantrum within a wheeled trolley. Then after the Autobots had attacked, he deactivated Mirage. Later, once the Underbase-powered Starscream had begun attacking the cities of Earth, Octane was deactivated by Starscream and was not seen again in the rest of the comics run. He did put in a further appearance in an alternate universe as part of Galvatron's forces in a nightmare alternate universe where Unicron had destroyed Cybertron, and Galvatron and the Decepticons ruled Earth.

Although not explicitly identified as Octane, a dead Transformer with a similar appearance appears in issue 10 of the Transformers: Generation 2 series amidst a pile of Decepticon corpses on the Warworld following a raid by a boarding party of Jhiaxus's troops, led by Starscream.

Octane's first appearance in the Marvel U.K. comic was in the Target 2006 story arc. He, along with the other Triple Changers, the three Insecticons, and Dirge, Thrust, Ramjet and Macabre, are the Decepticons' most feared killers and have to be taken out before a major Autobot uprising can take place. Megatron inadvertently scuppered the plan by summoning the Insecticons to Earth.

Octane also appeared in issue #99, where he was a guard for Straxus, who had been reduced to a disembodied head after his battle with Blaster. Things changed when a teleportation mishap delivered both Megatron and Optimus Prime to Cybertron. Megatron quickly linked up with Straxus, and sent Octane to hunt down the escaped Prime while spreading misinformation that he was a failed Decepticon spy. When the Wreckers realized that it was the real Prime and teamed up with him, Octane delivered this news to Megatron and Straxus, exaggerating his own role in the events to curry favor with the Decepticon leaders.

He appeared again much later in the story "Maneuvers." Octane was tired of constant work, stealing fuel for the Decepticons and wanted to have some fun by himself. To amuse himself, he chased the Autobot Jazz for miles who led Octane into a U.S. Army testing range, knowing full well he was full of fuel and would explode if hit. Octane called for help from his fellow Triple Changers, Blitzwing and Astrotrain, who managed to protect Octane for a while but were getting damaged themselves because of it. A forced confession from the terrified Octane to Blitzwing led to him and Astrotrain leaving Octane alone to deal with the Army. It is unclear whether this story is supposed to be set in the period where Ratbat was leading the Decepticons or the Earthforce stories surrounding it.

Devil's Due Publishing

In the third crossover between G.I. Joe and the Transformers from Devil's Due Publishing, Octane appeared as part of the Decepticon air attack on the Autobot Capital City, led by Sixshot, but was driven off by Omega Supreme. He was one of the Decepticons that tried to stop Optimus Prime from attacking Serpentor, but was punched out by the Autobot leader.

Dreamwave Productions

The Triple Changers would appear again in Dreamwave's reinterpretation of the Generation One universe — this time with a greatly expanded origin. Octane originally appeared as part of Shockwave's assault force attacking Iacon, and would later join Starscream's Predacon faction during the period following the disappearance of Megatron.

During the civil war on Cybertron, Shockwave envisioned a Transformer with multiple alternate modes, studying Astrotrain and Blitzwing. However, the Great Shutdown meant his plans could go no further — until Unicron's servant Scourge located Cybertron and reactivated Shockwave for study. Shockwave was attacked by Sharkticons, Scourge saved his life, only to be shot in the back by Shockwave. Shockwave then proceeded to examine and study Scourge, using the secrets gleaned to create first the Duocons and then the Triple Changers — Astrotrain, Blitzwing, Octane and at least two others — appearing to be the Autobots Sandstorm and Broadside. Interestingly, in the Micromasters mini-series by Dreamwave, Blitzwing and Astrotrain are suffering from severe physical changes. As this is before the Great Shutdown this might imply that the change was a natural one rather than a result of experiments.

The Triple-Changers later served as Shockwave's bodyguards, accompanying him to Earth to capture Optimus Prime and Megatron's troops. However, with the Earthbound Transformers captive, things began to go wrong. Grimlock had escaped and was intent on reactivating his fellow Dinobots. Shockwave sent Octane to investigate, but the Dinobots jumped him, beheaded him and stole his shuttle.

Fun Publications

Classicverse Octane appears among Megatron's troops in the story At Fight's End by Fun Publications. Although depicted as the new "Tankor" toy, he retains the Octane name in the story.

Wings of Honor Octane appears in the Botcon 2013 story Machine Wars: Termination. In this story he has his Universe Tankor body, but is still called Octane.^[1]

IDW Publishing

After the Transformers license passed to IDW Publishing, Octane appeared as one of the Decepticons under Starscream's command in the alternate reality Evolutions tale "Hearts of Steel". He was seen quizzing Tobias Muldoon about the possibilities of flight. He did not appear after this, but he was most likely destroyed when John Henry and Bumblebee diverted the Decepticon train convoy into a chasm.

He made his first appearance in the main G1 IDW continuity in issue #2 of The Transformers: Megatron Origin, where a series of video broadcasts showing underground gladiator battles (being watched by Ratbat) showed him battling alongside Slag and Megatron himself.

Toys

Universe Tankor toy.

• Generation 1 Triple Changer Octane (1986)

Octane can transform from a robot to a longnose truck cab with fuel-tanker trailer of undetermined model, and also a Boeing 767 jet plane. The tailfin of the jet form separates to become a shield for robot mode.^[2][3]

• Universe Deluxe Tankor (2008)

First announced at BotCon 2007, concept art for this toy was later seen at SDCC 2007, where it was named Octane. The toy is obviously a representation of Octane, although (possibly for copyright reasons) the toy will be named Tankor, despite this being the third toy released with that name under the Universe line.^[4][5]

• Henkei! Henkei! D-05 Deluxe Destron Octane (2008)

The Japanese version of Universe Deluxe Tankor by Takara Tomy sports gray wheels instead of black and his gun is remolded in chrome silver.^[6]

Transformers: Robots in Disguise

Mega-Octane/Ruination

Universe Ruination toy. Mega-Octane can be seen as his torso.
Decepticon
Information
Sub-group	Commandos and Triple Changers.
Function	Commando leader
Motto	"I command you to destroy!"
Alternate modes	Missile Trailer, Combat Station and Ruination's torso.
Series	Transformers: Robots in Disguise Transformers: Universe
English voice actor	Bob Papenbrook
Japanese voice actor	Holly Kaneko

In the parallel universe television series Transformers: Robots in Disguise, Mega-Octane is portrayed as the cool, calculating leader of the Commandos. He is cruel and unfair, and uses his four subordinates as if they were his own limbs - he expects them to carry out his orders without question, and he has no tolerance with delays or mistakes. He is somewhat envious of Scourge, who snatched leadership of the Commandos directly from him. In missile trailer mode, Mega-Octane can launch missiles with a range of 65 miles (105 km). In robot mode, he carries a laser rifle. He can also transform into a combat station and perform maintenance on his teammates. He forms the torso and head of Ruination.

Animated series

Mega-Octane was one of five Transformers that actually began life as Autobots, sent to Earth along with a sixth to lead them in a mission to reactivate the legendary Autobot battle station known as Fortress Maximus. However, their craft malfunctioned and crashed, and the six Autobots were entombed in protoform state, joining Fortress Maximus in slumber until their ship was unearthed by Megatron and his Predacons. Absconding with the Autobot protoforms right under Optimus Prime's nose, Megatron took them to a nearby military base, intending to scan alternate modes for them. Mega-Octane was the first to be reactivated, infused with a portion of Megatron's own spark energy to create the first of a new breed of Transformer that Megatron dubbed the "Decepticons." The other four members of the team followed, and eventually the sixth, Scourge, who took leadership of the team from Mega-Octane with a show of force.

Simply referred to as the Commandos, they soon demonstrated their skills by blowing up dams across the country, debuting their combining abilities against Rail Racer and later attempting to harness the energies of a volcano on Montrose Island. As part of a string of failed attempts to locate the Autobots' hidden base, Movor was launched into orbit to track Side Burn from space, and the Decepticons then pretended to have reverted to their original Autobot selves in an effort to make the Autobots take them in. Later, Decepticon corruption of the Autobots' global spacebridge led Ruination into conflict with Landfill.

It soon became apparent that Scourge sought to overthrow Megatron's leadership, and the discovery of Fortress Maximus, buried beneath the Earth's surface accelerated the process as exposure to his energies, and those of the O-Parts - the keys to Maximus's resurrection - awoke memories of Scourge's original mission. His new Decepticon programming turned it on its head, however, as he now wished to command Maximus's power for his own, and soon had the other Decepticons thinking the same way, conspiring with Mega-Octane to get Cerebros, the power key of Fortress Maximus, under his control. As a series of chases to acquire control of Maximus began, Scourge eventually revealed his treachery by trying to have the giant attack Galvatron (Megatron, in a new form), only for the plan to fail. In retribution, Galvatron again brainwashed the Decepticons, turning them back into his loyal servants, who followed him so completely that they were even willing to take his orders after he attempted to kill them as a belated punishment. With Galvatron's defeat, the Decepticons and Predacons were all taken back to Cybertron for imprisonment.

3H Enterprises

Mega-Octane would make one further appearance in the BotCon 2004 voice actor play. Here, he was one of the Decepticons under the command of Reptilion, alongside Sunstorm and Perceptor. He battled Silverbolt, Rattrap and Waspinator in order to secure two groups of dimensionally displaced Autobots from the RiD universe. However, the three groups of Autobots, together with a time-lost Autobot shuttle from the Great War, were able to defeat the Decepticons.

Toys

• Robots in Disguise Deluxe Mega-Octane (2000, 2001)

A retool of the Generation 1 Onslaught toy, Mega-Octane transforms into a flatbed truck and trailer with a twin-barreled cannon.

• Car Robots Baldigus (2000)

In Japan, Mega-Octane/Dolrailer was also made available as part of a complete team multi-pack with his teammates Armorhide, Movor, Rollbar and Ro-Tor. All toys were identical to their individual Japanese releases, but the set only came with a bio card for the combined form.

• Ultra Ruination (2003)

The entire Commando team was redecoed in various shades of gray with "urban camo" patterns as part of a Wal-Mart exclusive gift set, oddly released well after the end of the Robots in Disguise line.

• Universe Ultra Ruination (2004)

The entire Ruination team was redecoed to make another Wal-Mart exclusive set, this time with a unified "desert camo" theme under the Transformers: Universe banner. It came out at the same time as five other Wal-Mart Transformers exclusives.

Transformers: Cybertron

According to Hasbro sources some proposed names for Cybertron Sky Shadow were Octane and Spacewarp.^[7]

Kre-O Transformers

In this incarnation, Octane is renamed Fuselage, a Decepticon from the brick-built world of Kre-O who turns into a cargo plane. Fuselage is an homage to the Generation 1 Octane (particularly his Boeing 767 mode). His appearance in the comic is vastly different from that of his later Kreon toy, the comic renders him in a G1-faithful color scheme, sports a Ratchet helmet, and uses a Firestrike wing backpack.

Kre-O online comic

In "Treasure Competition! Defeat with Block Power!", Fuselage was seen fleeing in terror along with his fellow Decepticons as Jazz attacked using a giant Mega-Jazz robot.

Toys

• Kreon Micro-Changer Fuselage (2014)

of the sixth assortment of blind-bagged Kreon Micro-Changers, Fuselage can be rebuilt from robot mode into a cargo plane. He sports Mirage's helmet.

References

• Furman, Simon (2004). Transformers: The Ultimate Guide. DK Publishing Inc. p. 27. ISBN 1-4053-0461-8.