Transformers: The Headmasters
Encyclopedia
is a Japan
ese anime
television series.
, the Japanese producers of the Transformers toyline, imported the American Transformers
cartoon series from 1985 to 1986. When the series came to an end with the three-part miniseries "The Rebirth" in 1987, however, Takara decided to continue the series themselves, declining to import The Rebirth and instead creating a full-length 35-episode spin-off
series, Transformers: The Headmasters (two additional clips episodes were produced after the fact for direct-to-video release). Supplanting The Rebirths position in Japanese continuity, The Headmasters occurred one year after The Return of Optimus Prime, introducing the titular characters to the Transformers universe in a different way. Whereas in western fiction, the Headmasters result from the merging of a Transformer with an organic alien being from the planet Nebulos, the Headmasters of the Japanese series are a group of small Cybertronians who departed the planet millions of years ago and crash-landed on the inhospitable planet Master. To survive its harsh climate, a select few Cybertronians constructed larger bodies called "Transtectors", to which they connected as the heads.
, when a group of rebellious Headmasters led by Weirdwolf joined with Galvatron
's Decepticon
s in an attack on Cybertron
, the Autobot
Headmasters, led by Fortress
return to their home planet to aid in its defense. The situation soon gets worse when it is revealed that Vector Sigma
, the super-computer at the planet's heart, was destabilizing, and Optimus Prime again sacrifices his life to save Cybertron. This soon proves to be only delaying the inevitable, however, when a bomb attack instigated by Scorponok turns Cybertron into a burnt-out, inhospitable husk. Rodimus Prime departs to search for a new planet for the Transformers to live on, leaving Fortress in command, operating from the planet Athenia. Meanwhile, Scorponok replaces Galvatron - who had vanished in the explosion - as Decepticon leader, constructing a personal Transtector so that he can battle Fortress's own giant form, Fortress Maximus
, and redubbing himself MegaZarak
.
Although populated mainly with new characters, The Headmasters featured characters from all previous seasons, including new versions of Soundwave
and Blaster, rebuilt after a duel that destroyed them both as Soundblaster and Twincast. Human Daniel Witwicky and his young Autobot friend Wheelie
also played major roles in the series, serving as the youthful characters for the audience to identify with. More new characters were introduced when Galvatron returned to leadership and the Decepticons embarked on a space voyage, ransacking planets in a chain of stories that introduced the Horrorcons
, Autobot and Decepticon Clones. Later, the Decepticon ninja six-changer Sixshot
kill Ultra Magnus, and the Autobot Headmasters finish off Galvatron. When the Decepticons then return to Master, refugees from the planet are caught in a plasma bomb accident that fuses them to the arms of several Autobots and Decepticons, creating the Targetmasters, and in a final move, Scorponok attempts the destruction of Earth, only to be foiled, thanks in part to a traitorous Sixshot.
until July 2011, The Headmasters was dubbed into English in Hong Kong for broadcast on the Malaysian TV channel, RTM1, and later the Singapore
satellite station, StarTV
, where it attained greater fame, leading it to often be referred to as the "StarTV dub". The dub is, however, infamous for its poor quality, full of mistranslations and incorrect names (Blaster becomes "Billy", Blurr becomes known as "Wally", Hot Rod is "Rodimus Prime", the Matrix becomes "the Power Pack", Spike is "Sparkle", Soundblaster is "New Soundwave", Metroplex is called "Phillip", and Fortress Maximus is known as "Spaceship Bruce"), to infamous quotes such as "I'll send you express to hell", and "Fortress Maximus has come himself". The dubs were created by a small group of individuals with little knowledge of the material and less talent. This dub has seen some DVD releases in the United Kingdom
, and the entire series was released in a dual-language format on 26 September 2005. The series was broadcasted on the British Television channel AnimeCentral
from September 13, 2007. The full series was released on DVD in North America by Shout! Factory
on July 5, 2011, without the English dub.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
television series.
Development
Inititally, TakaraTakara
Takara Co., Ltd. was a Japanese toy company founded in 1955, that merged with another prominent Japanese toy company, Tomy Co., Ltd., on March 1, 2006 to form Takara Tomy, also known in English as TOMY Company Ltd....
, the Japanese producers of the Transformers toyline, imported the American Transformers
The Transformers (TV series)
The Transformers is an animated television series depicting a war among giant robots who could transform into vehicles, other objects and animal-like forms. Written and recorded in America, the series was animated in Japan and South Korea...
cartoon series from 1985 to 1986. When the series came to an end with the three-part miniseries "The Rebirth" in 1987, however, Takara decided to continue the series themselves, declining to import The Rebirth and instead creating a full-length 35-episode spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
series, Transformers: The Headmasters (two additional clips episodes were produced after the fact for direct-to-video release). Supplanting The Rebirths position in Japanese continuity, The Headmasters occurred one year after The Return of Optimus Prime, introducing the titular characters to the Transformers universe in a different way. Whereas in western fiction, the Headmasters result from the merging of a Transformer with an organic alien being from the planet Nebulos, the Headmasters of the Japanese series are a group of small Cybertronians who departed the planet millions of years ago and crash-landed on the inhospitable planet Master. To survive its harsh climate, a select few Cybertronians constructed larger bodies called "Transtectors", to which they connected as the heads.
Story
Six years after the decisive battle against UnicronUnicron
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...
, when a group of rebellious Headmasters led by Weirdwolf joined with Galvatron
Galvatron
Galvatron is the name of several fictional Transformers, most often the recreated version of Megatron, the Decepticon leader. He was voiced by Leonard Nimoy in the 1986 Transformers movie, and then by Frank Welker in season 3 and 4 of the animated television series. Since then, other Transformers...
's 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 in an attack on 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...
, the 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...
Headmasters, led by Fortress
Fortress Maximus
Fortress Maximus is the name of several fictional characters from several of the various Transformers universes. Fortress Maximus appeared in the season 4 finale of the US Transformers animated series voiced by Stephen Keener. He was one of the stars of the Japanese Transformers: Headmasters...
return to their home planet to aid in its defense. The situation soon gets worse when it is revealed that Vector Sigma
Vector Sigma
In the fictional universe of the first Transformers animated series, Vector Sigma is the "mega-computer" that gives sentience to non-sentient robots, and is used by the Quintessons to endow their robotic creations with the true life that eventually leads to their rebellion...
, the super-computer at the planet's heart, was destabilizing, and Optimus Prime again sacrifices his life to save Cybertron. This soon proves to be only delaying the inevitable, however, when a bomb attack instigated by Scorponok turns Cybertron into a burnt-out, inhospitable husk. Rodimus Prime departs to search for a new planet for the Transformers to live on, leaving Fortress in command, operating from the planet Athenia. Meanwhile, Scorponok replaces Galvatron - who had vanished in the explosion - as Decepticon leader, constructing a personal Transtector so that he can battle Fortress's own giant form, Fortress Maximus
Fortress Maximus
Fortress Maximus is the name of several fictional characters from several of the various Transformers universes. Fortress Maximus appeared in the season 4 finale of the US Transformers animated series voiced by Stephen Keener. He was one of the stars of the Japanese Transformers: Headmasters...
, and redubbing himself MegaZarak
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:...
.
Although populated mainly with new characters, The Headmasters featured characters from all previous seasons, including new versions of Soundwave
Soundwave (Transformers)
Soundwave is the name of several characters in the various series Transformers series. His most famous disguise is that of a microcassette recorder and has an iconic voice done by a vocoder.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
and Blaster, rebuilt after a duel that destroyed them both as Soundblaster and Twincast. Human Daniel Witwicky and his young Autobot friend Wheelie
Wheelie (Transformers)
Wheelie is the name of two different fictional characters in the Transformers series.-Generation 1:The first Wheelie is a young Autobot who turns into a car. He has a distinctive style of speech, in which he rhymes his sentences while speaking in a high pitched voice, making him sound like a child....
also played major roles in the series, serving as the youthful characters for the audience to identify with. More new characters were introduced when Galvatron returned to leadership and the Decepticons embarked on a space voyage, ransacking planets in a chain of stories that introduced the Horrorcons
Horrorcons
The Horrorcons are a subgroup of the Headmasters group in the Transformers toy line.The Horrorcons consist of two Decepticons: Apeface and Snapdragon, both of which transform into three modes: humanoid robot, aeroplane and animal and have very obnoxius, repellent personalities.-Apeface:Apeface is...
, Autobot and Decepticon Clones. Later, the Decepticon ninja six-changer Sixshot
Sixshot
Sixshot is the name of two fictional characters from the various Transformers series. Introduced in 1987, Sixshot appeared in the last few episodes of the original US Transformers animated series, voiced by Neil Ross. His defining gimmick was that he had six different forms, not two like a normal...
kill Ultra Magnus, and the Autobot Headmasters finish off Galvatron. When the Decepticons then return to Master, refugees from the planet are caught in a plasma bomb accident that fuses them to the arms of several Autobots and Decepticons, creating the Targetmasters, and in a final move, Scorponok attempts the destruction of Earth, only to be foiled, thanks in part to a traitorous Sixshot.
Adaptations
Never professionally released in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
until July 2011, The Headmasters was dubbed into English in Hong Kong for broadcast on the Malaysian TV channel, RTM1, and later the Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
satellite station, StarTV
STAR TV (Asia)
Satellite Television Asian Region is an Asian TV service owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation.In 2009, News Corporation restructured STAR Asia into four units – STAR India, STAR Greater China, STAR Select and Fox International Channels....
, where it attained greater fame, leading it to often be referred to as the "StarTV dub". The dub is, however, infamous for its poor quality, full of mistranslations and incorrect names (Blaster becomes "Billy", Blurr becomes known as "Wally", Hot Rod is "Rodimus Prime", the Matrix becomes "the Power Pack", Spike is "Sparkle", Soundblaster is "New Soundwave", Metroplex is called "Phillip", and Fortress Maximus is known as "Spaceship Bruce"), to infamous quotes such as "I'll send you express to hell", and "Fortress Maximus has come himself". The dubs were created by a small group of individuals with little knowledge of the material and less talent. This dub has seen some DVD releases in the United Kingdom
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...
, and the entire series was released in a dual-language format on 26 September 2005. The series was broadcasted on the British Television channel AnimeCentral
AnimeCentral
Anime Central was a British television channel owned by CSC Media Group. The channel launched on 13 September 2007. It was first announced on 5 August 2007 though its licence first appeared on the Ofcom website in January...
from September 13, 2007. The full series was released on DVD in North America by Shout! Factory
Shout! Factory
Shout! Factory is an entertainment company founded in 2003 that was started by Richard Foos , Bob Emmer and Garson Foos initially as a specialty music label...
on July 5, 2011, without the English dub.