Onslaught (Transformers)

Onslaught is the name of a fictional character in the various Transformers universes. He is usually portrayed as the leader of the Combaticons who turn into missile launching vehicles and combine with his comrades into Bruticus.

Transformers: Generation 1

Onslaught

Decepticon
Information
Sub-group	Combaticons, Deluxe Vehicles, Elite Guard, Micro Vehicles, Ultra Vehicles
Function	Combaticon Leader, Tactician
Rank	7
Partner	Brawl, Vortex, Blast Off, and Swindle
Motto	"The mind is the greatest weapon."
Alternate modes	Cybertronian Missile Truck, Flatbed Missile Truck, BTR-80 APC, S.W.A.T. vehicle, Astros II MLRS
Series	Transformers: Generation 1 Transformers: Generation 2 Transformers: Universe
English voice actor	S. Marc Jordan Steve Bulen (in "The Rebirth")
Japanese voice actor	Yū Shimaka

Onslaught is a leader who prefers to formulate strategies and tactics to defeat his opponents rather than sheer brute force.^[1] However, when his plans fail, he can become a devastating force in battle, as his fury that his carefully laid out plans have been thwarted can inspire him to acts to violence. Joins with fellow Combaticons to form robot Bruticus.^[2]

Animated series

Onslaught debuted in the second season episode, "Starscream's Brigade". In the episode, Starscream is banished from Decepticon Headquarters after his latest attempt on Megatron's life. He is sent to the island of Guadalcanal where he discovers old World War II vehicles. Starscream decides to use these to build his own army. He raids a Decepticon detention center on Cybertron and steals the personality components of several renegade Decepticons. Onslaught is placed in an old WWII troop transport truck and the body is reformatted into a modern missile truck.

Onslaught's abilities as commander would not be seen until the next episode. After Bruticus was defeated by Menasor, Megatron banished Starscream and the Combaticons from Earth and sent to a distant asteroid. Starscream abandons the Combaticons on the asteroid and flies off into space. Onslaught devises a plan to exact revenge on Megatron by causing Earth to crash into the Sun. Using his backpack, he alters the Space Bridge to change the orbit on Earth. However, disengaging his backpack left Bruticus' weak spot vulnerable, which the Autobots used to disable him. Onslaught and the Combaticons were later reprogrammed to obey Megatron.

Onslaught was later involved in a Decepticon plot to capture the Middle East oil fields. The Aerialbots arrived on the scene and the Decepticons use their new jet drones to attack them. These drones however proved to be no match for the Aerialbots, forcing the Combaticons to engage them as Bruticus. They were defeated again by Superion.

Onslaught made various appearances as a member of the Combaticons, throughout the remainder of the series, as well as in the Japanese series Transformers: The Headmasters.

Books

Onslaught appeared in the 1986 Ladybird Books story Decepticon Hideout by John Grant.^[3]

Comics

Dreamwave Productions

Dreamwave Productions' 21st century re-imagining of the Generation 1 universe took its inspiration for the Combaticons from the original animated series, casting them as Decepticon prisoners who were reduced to protoform stasis because they were too dangerous to be released.

Onslaught, Brawl, Blast Off and Vortex originally appeared as part of Shockwave's attack on Iacon in the first War Within series. At the same time Swindle was with Starscream, Motormaster, Runabout and Runamuck after Starscream head sent Megatron and Optimus Prime down further into the depths of Cybertron.

Later, when Optimus Prime led a rebellion against Shockwave's domination of Cybertron in 2003, Starscream took the opportunity to form a power base, taking the protoform Combaticons to Earth and outfitting them with new alternate modes taken from an abandoned military base, then leading them in an attack on the Ark in order to acquire parts to make the Decepticon space cruiser, the Nemesis, spaceworthy. Confronted in battle by Brawn, Bruticus was caught in an explosion as Ratchet self-destructed the Ark, but he survived the conflagration, only to be knocked out by artillery fire from an incoming Autobot shuttle. After a battle with the evil clone, Sunstorm, Brawn opted to work out some of his stress on Bruticus's unconscious body, punching the gestalt about the head until his comrades yelled at him to stop. Bruticus would return, battling Sky Lynx for Starscream's amusement - until the Predacons appeared in their combined form of Predaking. The two gestalts battled as Starscream fled and Bruticus lost. The ultimate fate of the Combaticons in the Dreamwave universe was not revealed, due to the company's closure.^[4]

Onslaught's earth mode in the Dreamwave comics was toy accurate, and did not use the animated series redesign of his body.

Fun Publications

Nine million years in the past on Cybertron, Onslaught is assigned as leader of the Elite Guard Combaticon unit, designed to seek out and stop the leadership of the Decepticon forces.

The Elite Guard Alpha Team and Strike Team did battle against a horde of ferrovorous bugs in one of Cybertron's city-states. Magnum then ordered the Strike Team to escort the Alpha Team to Space Port Bravo for their next mission. The Strike Team then reported to Magnum and Sentinel Major, who introduced them to the new Elite Guard Special-Ops Team, also called the Combaticons.^[5]

While on patrol Onslaught told Metalhawk the story of how his Elite Guard team captured Thunderwing. Metalhawk then told Onslaught about how his team captured Blue Bacchus. The teams of Elite Guardsmen then came across a Decepticon who was separated from his group. Brawl was able to get the location of a Decepticon base from the captive before he went offline. The Guard teams around the base and were able to kill Shadowcaster, the base's leader. Metalhawk's team reported to Magnum, but the Combaticons stayed to investigate, Onslaught thinking their victory was too easy. They were captured by Decepticons.^[6] He later became a Decepticon.

Metalhawk and his Strike Team were searching for Decepticons when they ran into a crazy "empty" who ranted about the coming of the "brute". They received a distress signal from Sentinel Major ordering all Elite Guard units to return base. When Metalhawk's team arrived at the base Ricochet told them of a Decepticon attack. Among the attackers are the Combaticions, but when Sentinel Major orders them to surrender, they combine into Bruticus and crush Sentinel Major.^[7]

When most of the members of the Autobot Elite Guard confronted Bruticus they were nearly wiped out, with Bruticus killing most of the Guard. Dion was able to blind Bruticus, forcing it to separate into the Combaticons, but the Combaticons finished off most of the remaining Guard, including Metalhawk, who was killed by Onslaught. This left only Dion alive, buried in the rubble, and Thunderclash's team, which was off planet at the time.^[8]

IDW Publishing

Onslaught commanded his team under the direction of Banzai-Tron in their attack on Garrus-9 penal facility, where they fought Arcee.^[9]

Banzai-Tron, Gutcruncher, Axer and the Combaticons help Arcee attempt to recapture Monstructor.^[10]

On Earth Onslaught and his team were captured by Skywatch on Earth, but they were recovered by Hot Rod's team.^[11]

Marvel Comics

Onslaught made his comics debut in issue #63 of the Marvel U.K. comic, in the story "Second Generation". In this, the Creation Matrix gives Buster Witwicky a vision of the future of the Transformer race, where combining Transformers are common. When Optimus Prime joins him for one of his visions (which is also monitored by the Decepticons led by Shockwave), they see Onslaught leading the Combaticons into forming Bruticus to come to the rescue of Menasor, who is battling Defensor. This vision prompts the Decepticons to begin work on the Combaticons.

Onslaught debuted in the Marvel U.S. comic in issue #24, "Afterdeath". In this issue, Megatron and the Combaticons are battling Optimus Prime and Protectobots near a computer lab. A human named, Ethan Zachary convinced the robots to settle their dispute in a video game. They agreed on the condition that whichever side lost, their leader was destroyed in the real world. The object of the game was to destroy the leader of the enemy group. The Combaticons and Protectobots were sent to different levels of the game. In each scenario, the Combaticons would lose and the Protectobots would win. This allowed them to merge into Defensor and destroy the virtual Megatron. However, Megatron used a cheat code to reenter the game. Optimus defeated Megatron again, but this time he allowed innocent lives to perish. Feeling guilty, Optimus forfeited the game and ordered himself destroyed.^[12][13]

Onslaught and his Combaticons were often seen battling the Protectobots, but received little other major plot or character development. One notable assignment was the attempted destruction of Galvatron while he was entombed in a volcano following his failure to tap its power; this mission was embarrassingly thwarted by the combined efforts of Blaster, the Throttlebots, and three female human allies of Ultra Magnus who was likewise trapped within the volcano. However, Onslaught later found favour with sometime Decepticon commander Ratbat, who effectively promoted Onslaught to field commander for the assault on the Autobots on Earth's moon.

He was eventually killed by Jhiaxus' troops in the Transformers: Generation 2 comic.

Toys

• Generation 1 Combaticon Onslaught (1986)

Onslaught came with all the combiner accessories used by the other Combaticons (feet and fists) for Bruticus. The Onslaught figure was re-released in 1990 in Europe.^[14]

This toy was redecoed into the Japanese exclusive Generation 1 figure Great Cannon and remolded slightly into the Robots in Disguise toy line as Mega-Octane.

• Generation 1 Kabaya Gum Onslaught (1986)

Part of the original gum toy series by Kabaya. Two additional packs (Vortex & Brawl and Blast-Off & Swindle) are needed to complete Bruticus. Each package comes with a stick of chewing gum and an easy-to-assemble kit. The completed robot looks and transforms almost the same as the larger, original Takara version, but is painted in just olive green and gray. The toy also has a third mode, which is a howitzer.^[15]

• Generation 2 Combaticon Onslaught (1994)

A remold and redeco of the Generation 1 toy. He came with an additional missile launcher and 2 missiles for it.^[16][17]

• Universe Classic Series Ultra Onslaught (2008)

The Transformers Collectors Club released pictures of a Universe Onslaught in December 2007 with the release of the cover issue 19 of their magazine.^[18] Onslaught is a new Ultra Class mold in the Classics style. His vehicle mode is a S.W.A.T. APC and is armed with a battle shield, an arm blaster and his tradition back cannons.^[19] Initial releases of this figure had a small flaw in their electronics so that the siren sound would only release a single chirp when the button was held down, where later releases fixed this problem, and the siren sounds continuously when the button is held down.

The mold for this figure was also used for the 2009 Walmart exclusive Autobot Hardhead^[20] and the BotCon 2010 exclusive Decepticon Clench.^[21]

• Universe Classic Series Legends Onslaught (2008)

A redeco of Cybertron Legends Red Alert, this toy was first displayed at the 2008 New York Toy Fair.

• Universe Classic Series Ultra Onslaught (Takara Tomy) (2008)

The Japanese version of the Universe Ultra figure by Takara Tomy is sold as a "USA Edition" toy. The box packaging is exactly the same as the Hasbro version, but the figure is repainted in more Generation 1-accurate colors.^[22]

• Universe Generation 1 Series Deluxe Onslaught (2009)

A redeco of Energon Barricade in the colors of Generation 1 Onslaught. This toy measures 13 centimeters long in vehicle mode, while a real Astros II MLRS measures 700 centimeters, making this a 1:54 scale toy. With the robot toy standing 14 centimeters tall, the real world robot would stand about 756 centimeters (24.8 feet) tall.

• Generations Fall of Cybertron Deluxe Bruticus (2012)

An SDCC 2012 exclusive Bruticus gift set. Colored to match be more Fall of Cybertron game accurate in colors than the retail release. The Onslaught in this set was repurposed into Generation 1 Onslaught in the IDW comics.

Transformers: Robots in Disguise

Transformers: Energon

Onslaught was the Japanese name for Energon Barricade, who transformed into a missile truck.

Transformers Cinematic Universe

Onslaught

Revenge of the Fallen Onslaught
Decepticon
Information
Sub-group	Combaticons, Deluxe Vehicles
Function	Combaticon Leader and Strategist Genius
Partner	Megatron, Barricade, Blast Off, Brawl, Swindle, Vortex
Alternate modes	Astros II MLRS, Western Star 4900SF Tow truck
Series	Transformers Cinematic Universe

Little is known about this version of Onslaught yet. The box describes him as leader of the Combaticons. The number "C5" refers to the original number code on the Generation 1 Onslaught toy box.

Films

Onslaught is set to appear in Transformers: The Last Knight, as Western Star 4900SF Tow truck.^[23]

Toys

• Revenge of the Fallen Deluxe Onslaught (2009)

A repackage of the toy previously released as Universe Onslaught in other countries, this toy was released as a Target store exclusive in the U.S. as part of the Revenge of the Fallen toy line. This toy was in turn a redeco of the mold used for Energon Barricade and Timelines Heatwave.

This toy measures 13 centimeters long in vehicle mode, while a real Astros II MLRS measures 700 centimeters, making this a 1:54 scale toy. With the robot toy standing 14 centimeters tall, the real world robot would stand about 756 centimeters (24.8 feet) tall.

Transformers: Prime

Onslaught

Decepticon
Information
Sub-group	Combaticons
Function	Combaticon leader, Tactician
Motto	"Get ready for an ONSLAUGHT!"
Alternate modes	Cybertronian Missile Truck
Series	Transformers: War for Cybertron Transformers: Fall of Cybertron
English voice actor	Brad Davidorf (WFC) Travis Willingham (FOC)

Books

Appears in the novel Transformers: Exodus, as one of the Combaticons.

Games

Onslaught appears in the 2010 video game Transformers: War for Cybertron as a downloadable character. He is a level boss in the Autobots version of the game for the Nintendo DS, while he is playable in the Decepticons version.

Onslaught also appeared among the rest of the Combaticons in the 2012 video game Transformers: Fall of Cybertron and it's semi-sequel Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark released in 2014.

Toys

• Generations Deluxe Onslaught (2012)
• Generations Fall of Cybertron Deluxe Bruticus (2012)

An SDCC 2012 exclusive Bruticus gift set. Colored to match be more Fall of Cybertron game accurate in colors than the retail release. The Onslaught in this set was repurposed into Generation 1 Onslaught in the IDW comics.

References