Nucleon (Transformers)
Encyclopedia
Nucleon is a power source in the fiction
al Transformers universe
. It was introduced during the beginning of the Action Masters
toyline in 1990. The Action Masters were composed of small-scale 3¾" Transformers, a mixture of pre-exisitng characters, who were designed to closely resemble their animated counterparts from the original Transformers animated series, and original creations. None of the figures were capable of transforming, so they were supplied with transformable weapon
s and vehicle
s to compensate. Nucleon was used in the toylines' backstory to explain the drastic change in the figures.
, the original author of Marvel Comics
' Transformers series. The original storyline for Nucleon was this:
A group of Autobot
s, led by Optimus Prime
, left Cybertron
to search for new sources of energy, as Energon reserves were being drained. This group eventually came across a form of energy that had been compressed into chunks of matter after going through a black hole— Nucleon. A single piece of it would be able to power a Transformer for an entire year.
Desperate for a new energy source to avoid total deactivation, the Autobots immediately consume the Nucleon. This results in a complete power surge, although consuming the fuel has also brought several side effects: the Autobots delicate transformation circuitry fuses together, storing the Nucleon itself while leaving the Autobots unable to transform at all.
Optimus Prime, unable to accept the loss of the Autobots transformation capabilities, arranges for the construction of transforming droids and vehicles for the Autobots, some which can be piloted and some which are sentient. The Decepticon
s are easily defeated by the enhanced Autobots, forcing the Decepticons, led by Megatron, to raid a Nucleon storage facility and ingest the fuel themselves, repeating the current events and resulting in the construction of vehicles and droids for the Decepticons as well.
, while writing the Transformers comic in 1991, took the Nucleon concept in a radically different direction. Following the assault by the Underbase-powered Starscream
a vast number of Autobot troops were left deactivated, stored in the Ark's stasis pods until Grimlock
, dissatisfied with Optimus Prime's leadership after the Matrix Quest
, went on an unauthorised quest of his own to revive his fallen Dinobot
comrades.
Having already heard of the fabled fuel, Nucleon, Grimlock headed to the planet Hydrus 4, a rough, hostile robotic jungle
planet, where he encountered strange zombie
-like robotic lifeforms, only capable of feeling instant rage and hatred towards anyone who comes to seek the power source for themselves. The zombie robots attacked Grimlock on sight, shouting "None must feed! Defend the well!", but Grimlock was easily able to fend them off.
One small robot remained, but rather than attack Grimlock, he warned him: the robots he had fought were not seeking to keep Nucleon to themselves, they were attempting to prevent anyone else from risking exposure to it. Nucleon, the robot warned, affects no two lifeforms the same way and sometimes the results were horrific. Grimlock, unwilling to expose his Dinobots to any risk he would not take himself, exposed himself to the Nucleon, and immediately felt its restorative effects. Undaunted, he soon had the Dinobots re-energised with the miracle fuel, and pumped it into the Ark's stasis pods, reviving all the deactivated Autobots.
Over the next few days, Grimlock began to fear that he had been too hasty when his joints periodically began to lock up, rendering him immobile. Immediately following the conflict with Unicron
, Grimlock and the Dinobots were attacked by subterranean Cybertron
ian lifeforms, and during the battle, the entirety of Grimlock's body locked up, completely paralysing him.
Only Hi-Q, the Powermaster partner of Optimus Prime, could see the true meaning of the process - Grimlock was not simply immobilised, he had entered a chrysalis stage, the second stage of an incredible transformation. Tapping into the process and accelerating it with his Powermaster abilities, Hi-Q set Grimlock free. Truly transformed, Grimlock burst free of his old body in a new, more powerful one and was able to save his comrades. But the price he had paid was immediately clear: he could no longer transform.
No further Transformers were shown to transform into Action Masters in the comic book, but several characters such as Krok and Rollout, who only existed in the Action Masters toyline, did put in appearances. In issue #80, the final issue, Optimus Prime returned in a body based on his Action Master toy, although writer Simon Furman attests that Prime wouldn't have actually been an Action Master in execution had the comic continued.
Later, a text-only story included in the final UK
Transformers Annual told of a near future in which all exposed to Nucleon had surrendered to that fate, only for a means to reverse the process to be created.
would have actually become a non-transforming Action Master, as he was the only other Dinobot released in the toyline besides Grimlock. Working out of the concept that Nucleon did not affect all mechanoids the same way, Furman had assorted undivulged fates planned for various other Transformers that were not rendered as Action Masters in the toyline, including something particularly gruesome for Slag
in 1991. Some were entirely new figures while others were repaints of existing characters. However, four "Action Master Elite" figures were released, all of them inspired by pre-exisitng characters. These figures were able to transform into vehicles: Doublepunch (a homage to Black Zarak
), could transform into a scorpion
, Omega Spreem (a homage to Omega Supreme
) transformed into a tank
, Turbo Master (a homage to Bruticus
) transformed into a helicopter
and Windmill could also transform into a helicopter.
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
al Transformers universe
Transformers universes
is an entertainment franchise. It began with the Hasbro Transformers toy line, centered on two factions of warring alien robots which are called the Autobots and the Decepticons...
. It was introduced during the beginning of the Action Masters
Action Masters
Action Masters are a sub-line of the Transformers toy franchise, first released in 1990, with a wave of new releases released in Europe in 1991. It featured Transformers action figures who were unable to transform, but came with transforming partners, weapons or exo-suits. Some of the larger sets...
toyline in 1990. The Action Masters were composed of small-scale 3¾" Transformers, a mixture of pre-exisitng characters, who were designed to closely resemble their animated counterparts from the original Transformers animated series, and original creations. None of the figures were capable of transforming, so they were supplied with transformable weapon
Weapon
A weapon, arm, or armament is a tool or instrument used with the aim of causing damage or harm to living beings or artificial structures or systems...
s and vehicle
Vehicle
A vehicle is a device that is designed or used to transport people or cargo. Most often vehicles are manufactured, such as bicycles, cars, motorcycles, trains, ships, boats, and aircraft....
s to compensate. Nucleon was used in the toylines' backstory to explain the drastic change in the figures.
Original concept
The original concept of Nucleon was conceived under the title Transformers: New Generation by Bob BudianskyBob Budiansky
Bob Budiansky is an American comic book writer, editor, and penciller, best known for his work on Marvel's Transformers comic. He also created the Marvel character Sleepwalker and wrote all 33 issues of that comic.-Career:...
, the original author of Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
' Transformers series. The original storyline for Nucleon was this:
A group of Autobot
Autobot
Autobot, a faction of sentient robots from the planet Cybertron, are usually the main protagonists in the fictional universe of the Transformers, a collection of various toys, graphic novels, paperback books, cartoons and movies first introduced in 1984. In all but one Transformer story, the...
s, led by Optimus Prime
Optimus Prime
Optimus Prime is a fictional character from the Transformers franchise. Prime is the leader of the autobots, a faction of transforming robots from the planet Cybertron. The autobots are constantly waging war against a rival faction of transforming robots called Decepticons...
, left Cybertron
Cybertron
Cybertron is a fictional planet, the homeworld of the Transformers in the various fictional incarnations of the metaseries and toyline by Hasbro. In the Japanese series, the planet is referred to as "Cybertron" pronounced as セイバートロン Seibātoron...
to search for new sources of energy, as Energon reserves were being drained. This group eventually came across a form of energy that had been compressed into chunks of matter after going through a black hole— Nucleon. A single piece of it would be able to power a Transformer for an entire year.
Desperate for a new energy source to avoid total deactivation, the Autobots immediately consume the Nucleon. This results in a complete power surge, although consuming the fuel has also brought several side effects: the Autobots delicate transformation circuitry fuses together, storing the Nucleon itself while leaving the Autobots unable to transform at all.
Optimus Prime, unable to accept the loss of the Autobots transformation capabilities, arranges for the construction of transforming droids and vehicles for the Autobots, some which can be piloted and some which are sentient. The Decepticon
Decepticon
The Decepticons are usually depicted as the antagonists in the fictional universes of the Transformers stoyline and related comics and cartoons, and the enemies of the Autobots and the University of California Davis Aggies...
s are easily defeated by the enhanced Autobots, forcing the Decepticons, led by Megatron, to raid a Nucleon storage facility and ingest the fuel themselves, repeating the current events and resulting in the construction of vehicles and droids for the Decepticons as well.
Marvel Comics
Simon FurmanSimon Furman
Simon Christopher Francis Furman is a comic book writer, particularly associated with of a number of notable Transformers comics for Marvel UK, Marvel US, Dreamwave, and most recently, IDW...
, while writing the Transformers comic in 1991, took the Nucleon concept in a radically different direction. Following the assault by the Underbase-powered Starscream
Starscream (Transformers)
Starscream is a fictional character in the Transformers franchise. He is one of the most prolific characters in the Transformers fictional work, appearing in almost all incarnations of the story. Starscream is usually portrayed with the same characterization...
a vast number of Autobot troops were left deactivated, stored in the Ark's stasis pods until Grimlock
Grimlock
Grimlock is the name of several fictional characters in the Transformers universes. He is usually portrayed as a tough leader who turns into a mechanical dinosaur...
, dissatisfied with Optimus Prime's leadership after the Matrix Quest
Matrix Quest
The Matrix Quest is the official collective name for issues #62 through #66 in Marvel's Transformers comics, written by UK writer Simon Furman. Each chapter of the story pays homage to a classic movie or book....
, went on an unauthorised quest of his own to revive his fallen Dinobot
Dinobots
Dinobots is the name of several teams of characters in the fictional Transformers Universe. The groups are made up of several robots, each of whose transformed mode is that of a dinosaur or similar prehistoric animal. They are called Dinotrons in the Japanese version; and ' in the Japanese dub of...
comrades.
Having already heard of the fabled fuel, Nucleon, Grimlock headed to the planet Hydrus 4, a rough, hostile robotic jungle
Jungle
A Jungle is an area of land in the tropics overgrown with dense vegetation.The word jungle originates from the Sanskrit word jangala which referred to uncultivated land. Although the Sanskrit word refers to "dry land", it has been suggested that an Anglo-Indian interpretation led to its...
planet, where he encountered strange zombie
Zombie
Zombie is a term used to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli...
-like robotic lifeforms, only capable of feeling instant rage and hatred towards anyone who comes to seek the power source for themselves. The zombie robots attacked Grimlock on sight, shouting "None must feed! Defend the well!", but Grimlock was easily able to fend them off.
One small robot remained, but rather than attack Grimlock, he warned him: the robots he had fought were not seeking to keep Nucleon to themselves, they were attempting to prevent anyone else from risking exposure to it. Nucleon, the robot warned, affects no two lifeforms the same way and sometimes the results were horrific. Grimlock, unwilling to expose his Dinobots to any risk he would not take himself, exposed himself to the Nucleon, and immediately felt its restorative effects. Undaunted, he soon had the Dinobots re-energised with the miracle fuel, and pumped it into the Ark's stasis pods, reviving all the deactivated Autobots.
Over the next few days, Grimlock began to fear that he had been too hasty when his joints periodically began to lock up, rendering him immobile. Immediately following the conflict with Unicron
Unicron
Unicron is a fictional character from the Transformers universe and toyline. Created by Floro Dery, he was introduced in the 1986 animated film The Transformers: The Movie as the film's main antagonist. Unicron is a prodigiously large robot whose scale reaches planetary proportions, and he is also...
, Grimlock and the Dinobots were attacked by subterranean Cybertron
Cybertron
Cybertron is a fictional planet, the homeworld of the Transformers in the various fictional incarnations of the metaseries and toyline by Hasbro. In the Japanese series, the planet is referred to as "Cybertron" pronounced as セイバートロン Seibātoron...
ian lifeforms, and during the battle, the entirety of Grimlock's body locked up, completely paralysing him.
Only Hi-Q, the Powermaster partner of Optimus Prime, could see the true meaning of the process - Grimlock was not simply immobilised, he had entered a chrysalis stage, the second stage of an incredible transformation. Tapping into the process and accelerating it with his Powermaster abilities, Hi-Q set Grimlock free. Truly transformed, Grimlock burst free of his old body in a new, more powerful one and was able to save his comrades. But the price he had paid was immediately clear: he could no longer transform.
No further Transformers were shown to transform into Action Masters in the comic book, but several characters such as Krok and Rollout, who only existed in the Action Masters toyline, did put in appearances. In issue #80, the final issue, Optimus Prime returned in a body based on his Action Master toy, although writer Simon Furman attests that Prime wouldn't have actually been an Action Master in execution had the comic continued.
Later, a text-only story included in the final UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Transformers Annual told of a near future in which all exposed to Nucleon had surrendered to that fate, only for a means to reverse the process to be created.
Unused ideas
Simon Furman has spoken of the direction in which he wished to take the Nucleon idea, had the comic carried on any further. Of the Dinobots, only SnarlSnarl (Transformers)
Snarl is the name of several different fictional characters in the various Transformers universes.-Transformers: Generation 1:Snarl is one of the members of the Autobot sub-group called the Dinobots led by Grimlock...
would have actually become a non-transforming Action Master, as he was the only other Dinobot released in the toyline besides Grimlock. Working out of the concept that Nucleon did not affect all mechanoids the same way, Furman had assorted undivulged fates planned for various other Transformers that were not rendered as Action Masters in the toyline, including something particularly gruesome for Slag
European exclusives
Several new figures in the Action Masters subline were released exclusively to EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
in 1991. Some were entirely new figures while others were repaints of existing characters. However, four "Action Master Elite" figures were released, all of them inspired by pre-exisitng characters. These figures were able to transform into vehicles: Doublepunch (a homage to Black Zarak
Scorponok
Scorponok is the name shared by several fictional characters in the various Transformers universes. All are Decepticons that turn into Scorpoins.- Transformers: Generation 1:...
), could transform into a scorpion
Scorpion
Scorpions are predatory arthropod animals of the order Scorpiones within the class Arachnida. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by the pair of grasping claws and the narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back, ending with a venomous stinger...
, Omega Spreem (a homage to Omega Supreme
Omega Supreme
Omega Supreme is the name of a fictional character from the Transformers franchise. He is always an Autobot and is often depicted as a gigantic transformer with vast strength and/or overwhelming firepower.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
) transformed into a tank
Tank
A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...
, Turbo Master (a homage to Bruticus
Combaticons
The Combaticons are a group of Decepticon military vehicles in the assorted fictional universes of the Transformers.- Transformers: Generation 1 :...
) transformed into a helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
and Windmill could also transform into a helicopter.