Dinobot (BW)


 * Dinobot is a Predacon and Maximal from the Beast Era portion of the Generation One continuity family.

Dinobot is a Predacon ruled by honor. He lives to die gloriously in battle. When he aided Megatron in the theft of the Golden Disk under the order of Cryotek, Dinobot believed he was in the pursuit of endless glory. But when he and his Predacon peers crashed on what seemed to be the wrong planet alongside a Maximal exploration vessel, he reneged against Megatron and joined the Maximal team, giving them a tactical advantage against his former side. As such, he is the only Maximal with a dinosaur for an animal form. It would be an uneasy alliance (especially from Rattrap), fraught with turns of loyalty and turns of Shakespearean phrase. But it also led to strong friendships and even the salvation of all humanity.

"The question that has haunted my being has been answered: The future is not fixed. My choices are my own.  And yet, how ironic, for I now find I have no choice at all.  I am a warrior; let the battle be joined."

- Dinobot


 * Chinese name (Taiwan): Kǔng-lúng (恐龍, "Dinosaur"), Múo Lúng (魔龍, "Demonic dinosaur")
 * Cantonese name: Dillonburg

Dreamwave's More Than Meets The Eye
During the theft of the Golden Disk, He Who Would Be Megatron also scanned the historical datatrax of the Autobots and Decepticons. He failed to notice the approaching guard until Dinobot dispatched him with his sword and insisted they speed up the operation.

Timelines: Theft of the Golden Disk
After meeting with Cryotek, "Dinobot", Megatron, and Dirge broke into the archives to steal a Data-Con which would provide all sorts of information about the Golden Disk. As they were making their getaway, Dinobot threw the Data-Con to Dirge, (the latter unaware of a switch on Megatron's part) before battling a squadron of Maximal Security Troopers, ending with a close combat duel with 9K. (At this time, Dinobot's sword was energy based.) As Dinobot was with Megatron and "Clamps," Dinobot was the obvious victor.

Timelines: Dawn of Future's Past
Megatron and Dinobot joined Scorponok in escaping the archives with the Golden Disk, avoiding patrolmen Unit 1 and Unit 2, Dinobot having disabled the former, while protesting Megatrons apparent cowardice when the disk was acquired. They made their way to the rendezvous with the Darksyde, and headed off into space to activate their transwarp drive. The Axalon and the Chromia 10 took chase, the latter was destroyed by unknown assailants. When the Axalon caught up with the Predacons, Dinobot balked at the idea of fleeing again, and managed to fire a few shots at the Axalon.

Beast Wars
Voice Actor: Scott McNeil (English), Keiji Fujiwara (Japanese), Luiz Carlos de Moraes (1st voice), Jorge Barcellos (2nd voice) (Brazil)



When Megatron stole the Golden Disk and fled to prehistoric Earth, Dinobot was among his followers. But immediately after crash-landing, Dinobot turned on his leader, claiming that he had led them to the wrong planet. Unfazed by the tirade, Megatron had Scorponok blast him, and he left Dinobot for dead.

Focused solely on Megatron's destruction, Dinobot sought out the Maximals and attempted to take command of their group. He forced Optimus Primal into a fight to the death, which was interrupted by a Predacon attack. After Dinobot helped the Maximals, Optimus accepted him into the fold - not as a leader, of course, but still as a valued team member. This didn't sit well with the other Maximals, particularly Rattrap, but over time the two became a strange sort of friends.

Dinobot provided not only brute force, but an understanding of the enemy: When Terrorsaur infiltrated the Maximal base, Dinobot feigned a desire to team up with him and overthrow Megatron. Lulling him into a false sense of security, Dinobot eventually took care of him with the trash disposal unit - all without firing a shot, and the other Maxies never even knew.

But through it all, Dinobot had only one true loyalty: to his personal sense of honor. This he described as Predacon in nature, although he often appeared far more noble than his former comrades. Still, he was really not a Maximal either; his ethics stemmed from his hard, warrior outlook. Always the first to call for action, he was often the recipient of Primal's lectures. For instance, when the Maximals unexpectedly created a transporter to the Predacon base, Dinobot demanded they send a bomb to destroy them all. Primal, however, insisted on a thirty-second timer to allow them time for evacuation, along the theory that if they lose their base, they're helpless anyway - no need to kill them outright.



As time went on, Dinobot inevitably became attached to the Maximals (this was especially obvious in his love/hate relationship with Rattrap, and the respect shared between Optimus and himself). When a Cybertronian probe was detected, he helped his teammates attempt to contact it, despite the fact he dreaded a return home. After all, he was a criminal even in Predacon terms, and he had no hope for a warm Maximal reception. Thus, when the Maximals later thought that Megatron's band had been destroyed, Dinobot elected to remain on Earth while the Maximals repaired their ship and launched it. However, just as Dinobot wandered off to explore the world that had become his, he stumbled across the not-so-dead Predacons, who attacked the Axalon and grounded the Maximals once again.

Despite his increasing loyalty to the team, his violent heart occasionally created rifts. Most notable was his reaction to Tigatron's pacifism: When the tiger tried to leave the Maximals in grief over the accidental death of his best friend, Dinobot argued vociferously with the "coward." He simply could not comprehend what Tigatron was saying: that in order to stop the fighting, someone had to lay down his gun. Dinobot could only see desertion, and for that he nearly killed Tigatron, who refused to fight back. But Primal interrupted before any damage was done, and Tigatron later came back to battle to save Dinobot from a Predacon attack, making the whole point moot.

The confrontation with Tigatron revealed more than just Dinobot's warrior ethic. He explained to Tigatron a bit of his motives for turning against Megatron: He feared that if Megatron used Earth's energon supply to wage a new war, Cybertron would burn as a result. But, of course, Dinobot had helped Megatron steal the disk in the first place, the stated goal having been to find energon. This appeared to be a contradiction (or massive change of heart) on Dinobot's part, but later revelations would fill in a larger picture.

The catalyst for these insights would be the destruction of the Planet Buster moon and most of the energon deposits, making it obvious that they were on Earth after all. Dinobot broke into the Predacon base and stole the golden disks. He gave the Vok disk to Rhinox, but the Voyager disk he hid from both sides. He knew that it contained information about the future, and it cut to the core of his being: "If the future is indeed immutably foretold, then my demise is but moments from that confirmation, for I could not live if not the master of my fate."



His desire to discover whether the future could be changed kept him focused on Megatron's actions. When Predacon installations were placed in a Voyager-disk-like pattern, Dinobot remarked, "So, Megatron, your plan proceeds even without the disk." This apparent knowledge of Megatron's plans had two implications: It explained Dinobot's original allegiance to the thief, which had nothing to do with energon-gathering. And it gave him reason to rejoin Megatron's circle as the possibility of the original plan's fruition reemerged.

Thus, he resubmitted himself to Megatron's command, but the Maximal influence still showed itself. When he was pitted in a deathmatch against Quickstrike in a bizarre test of loyalty, Dinobot subdued his foe but refused to kill him, offering to train him instead. But Megatron accepted the prodigal son anyway, as long as he returned the Golden Disk. Dinobot complied. He admitted to himself that he might be sacrificing his own race, but "either way I will know the truth at last."

After the artifact was back in Megatron's hands, Rattrap attacked and was quickly immobilized. As a final test of allegiance, Dinobot was ordered to kill his former teammate. This task proved too much for him, and he turned once again on the Predacon leader. Megatron retreated with the disk in his possession, and it's implied that Dinobot then told Optimus about Megatron's plan to attack the Ark.

After contemplating suicide and enduring Rattrap's recriminations, Dinobot decided to set things right. He tracked Megatron down and found him testing the Voyager disk. Megatron had discovered a mountain whose image was recorded on the disk, and he was blowing the peak up just as Dinobot arrived. From a distance, Dinobot saw his greatest hope and worst fear simultaneously: The disk's image changed. Dinobot's future was his own - but Megatron had virtually limitless power.



When the Predacons launched an attack on a tribe of proto-humans, attempting to destroy the future human race, Dinobot singlehandedly took all of the Predacons on. Having already been blindsided by Tarantulas, he waded through the attack squad. Ignoring the damage he sustained, the warnings of his own internal computer, and the danger to himself, Dinobot defeated everyone save Megatron. Mocking the weakened Dinobot, Megatron tallied the score firmly in his own favor: He had unimaginable power via the disk, the valley of the proto-humans was in ruins, and he had hostages. Refusing to quit, Dinobot jammed a rock through a stick and attacked with the makeshift hammer. Megatron dropped the disk, and Dinobot blasted it to pieces with his last bit of energy. A short time after the rest of the Maximals arrived, Dinobot's spark left his frame.

He was given a hero's funeral, with his body cremated as the Maximal fliers executed a Missing Man formation. His legacy remained even with the anthropoids, who found his hammer and used it as a weapon.

Dinobot died as he lived: paraphrasing Shakespeare. "Tell my tale to those who ask," his last words were. "Tell it truly—the ill deeds along with the good—and let me be judged accordingly. The rest... is silence."

Except then Megatron cloned him, again.

Beast Wars

 * Dinobot (Deluxe, 1996/1997)
 * Japanese ID number: C-4, VS-4




 * Part of the first wave of Beast Wars product, Dinobot transforms into something kinda resembling an organic Utahraptor. His tail detaches and separates to form a gear-powered spinning-blade weapon, while the central "tail bone" separates to be used as a sword. The entire assembly can store in robot mode by flipping down the tail-mount and pegging the blade's base to the peg on his lower back. Like all early Deluxe-and-up Beast Wars toys, he has a "mutant mask", halves of a dino-skull that flip up to cover his more robotic head.


 * The original Dinobots shipped on cards with "rocky"-shaped bubbles. Later (and more numerous) assortments moved to a smooth, rounded bubble, leading the first packaging type to become sought-after collectibles on the secondary market.


 * In Japan, Dinobot was available both individually and in a "Vs" set with Tarantulas. This version was identical to the Hasbro version. In January 1997, Takara redecoed many of the Beast Wars toys and re-released them in slightly more show-like tones; Dinobot actually got less tan to his dino-skin (moving further from the show model), and his helmet was painted in metallic gold. This version was also sold in a Vs set.


 * It should also be noted that this and the Fox Kids redeco, as well as some other versions of this mold, had the robot mode's biceps on the wrong arms, with the skin-like texture inside and the weight-reducing cavities on the outside. Later molds, such as the 10th Anniversary release, had this error corrected.


 * This mold was used to make lots of guys. Beast Wars Grimlock, Dinobots Grimlock, Beast Wars Neo Hardhead, Dinotron, and Thrustor.


 * Dinobot (Happy Meal Transmetal, 1998)


 * Part of the second McDonald's Beast Wars Happy Meal promotion, Transmetal Dinobot transforms into a metal velociraptor. His molding looks more like a Transmetal 2 than a normal Transmetals, though.


 * Dinobot (Fox Kids Deluxe, 1999)


 * The Fox Kids repaint of Dinobot is more dark brown than the original, with red stripes instead of the original's brown, a red face (the original was blue), and green eyes.

Beast Wars 10th Anniversary

 * Dinobot (Tenth Anniversary Deluxe, 2006)


 * This release is a redeco of the original Dinobot toy, though its "show-accuracy" is questionable at best, with an excessively dark (faintly bronzed) brown base-colour and, oddly, using blue on his kneepads, metallic green on his rib-like shin ridges, and inexplicably substituting the red interior of his rotor weapon with blue. This color scheme much more closely resembles that found original box art, as seen above.


 * Beast Wars 10th Anniversary Dinobot came with the left arm to the "build-a-bot" figure Transmutate, plus a DVD containing the obvious Dinobot episode, "Code of Hero".

Timelines

 * Darksyde Dinobot (Dawn of Futures Past multi-pack Deluxe, 2006)


 * Part of the five-toy BotCon 2006 exclusive boxed set (along with Cheetor, Optimus Primal, Rattrap and Rhinox), "Darksyde Dinobot" is a redeco of the Cybertron Longrack mold, itself a retool of Armada Hoist. Dinobot uses almost all of Longrack's new-mold parts save for the head; Hoist's was a dead ringer for Dinobot in the first place. He transforms into a Cybertronic excavator. Inserting a Cyber Key or Golden Disk Key into his shoulder assembly unlocks a shovel-punch attack activated by pressing on the plunger mechanism above the key port. Like Longrack, he does not come with a Mini-Con partner (dammit).


 * The original version of this mold was also used to make Universe Ransack.

Beast Wars Telemocha Series



 * Dinobot (Deluxe, 2006)
 * Japanese ID number: TM-05
 * Accessories: Rotating weapon, sword
 * Celebrating Japan's (one year later than the West) 10th anniversary of Beast Wars, this version of Dinobot is another redeco of the venerable tooling. While definitely more show-accurate than the Hasbro 10th Anniversary version from the previous year, some of its color-scheme decisions favor the robot mode, such as bronze/gold shoulder joints. The effect of this however is to have a less consistently colored beast mode than the Hasbro version. It is worth noting that even this version lacks the medium blue used for the base of the show model's lower legs and torso (though this may be due to them being on the same sprue as his "lightpipe" and mutant helmet), so the "ultimately totally show-accurate-colored" version still has yet to be done.


 * Perhaps most significant of all, however, is that this version of Dinobot finally has a mouth, though it is in the form of a paint operation, rather than a newly-sculpted head.

Universe (2008)

 * Dinobot (Deluxe, 2009)
 * Acessories: Split-tail melee weapon/missile launcher, sword (missile for the former)


 * Dinobot's first new mold sports a much, much more show-accurate robot mode with a completely new transformation. His tail blade weapon no longer rotates and splits oddly into three parts, one of which kibbles off to the side while the other two parts form a static version of the original toy's weapon. Insertable into the center of this is a missile of clear orange plastic which is fashioned after — and can be held as — Dinobot's original sword. The "sword" is shorter than it was either in the show, or on the original toy, now reminiscent of a nagamaki. The robot arms are now tucked into the belly rather than being formed by the beast mode legs, and sport a two-mode hand assembly. They can either form the five-digited claw seen on the show model and the original toy, or rotate into non-standard robot peg-hole humanoid hands. Why this was included is anyone's guess, but they are needed to hold the tail weapon while the sword can be held in either style. The legs now incorporate the bony spines seen on the show model in a much more accurate way and, like the whole of the figure, are far more articulated than the original. The robot mode claw hands and leg-spines as well as the beast mode arms are soft plastic. The toy is primarily a dark gray-brown plastic with light brown stripes, reversing the show model's coloring.


 * It is notable that the Universe box art, at least for the American release of the toy, features a Decepticon logo and the character art has a Predacon symbol on the chest. The bio on the back of the card describes Dinobot as he is at the beginning of the first episode of the Beast Wars cartoon, still a Predacon but doubting his allegiance. Delightfully, the toy sports a feature wherein the top of the beast mode head, forming the robot mode chest, has a rotating piece that can display either dinosaur skin or either faction symbol, Maximal or Predacon.


 * Also of importance is that Universe Dinobot is the first biodegrade-while-you-watch action figure designed to shatter at the slightest touch very delicate. He has some very thin structural plates, especially around his shoulders, and uses a form of the dreaded fragile gold plastic in his construction. You may notice some nascent stress-fractures on your Dinobot right out of the package, or after just one or two transformations, even if you're very careful. This guy may become valuable a few years down the line, when most examples will have crumbled into dust.

Merchandise

 * Dinobot mini bust (2007)




 * In 2006, First 4 Figures announced a seven-inch tall mini-bust of Dinobot, featuring his upper torso mounted upon a Maximal pedestal. He was sculpted by Ryan Bailey and is limited to 1,996 pieces. He is based upon his animated appearance, mounted on a silver pedestal adorned with the Maximal sigil.


 * As of writing, this product has not been released yet.

Trivia



 * It's been rumored that Dinobot's first toy borrowed some molding from an unproduced Kenner Jurassic Park dino. There's no evidence at all to support this, however, and it is incredibly unlikely to begin with.




 * An actual (IE non-McDonald's affiliated) Transmetal Dinobot apparently made it to concept art stages, but not much further. It would have been notable for having the lamest "transport mode" of all the Transmetals if produced, however. Several elements of the design were recycled on Transmetal Terrorsaur.


 * The Timelines "Darksyde Dinobot" color scheme is actually based on his Tenth Anniversary toy.


 * Some fans humorously refer to Dinobot's spinning blade weapon as a "Rotate Blade". However, both the full-length version of the first Beast Wars toy commercial and a later commercial (starring Dinobot, Waspinator and Tarantulas) refer to the weapon as being his "spinning Veloci-Rotor blades" whereas his packaging referred to it as a "Cyberslash" weapon.
 * He did use it for flight once, before Waspinator shot him down, while Dinobot was right above him.


 * Dinobot was second under Megatron before rebelling - probably because he was the only one who knew one end of a blaster from the other.


 * It's interesting to note that almost every single character in the Beast Wars gets thrashed at least twice as hard as Dinobot does in his final battle, and yet THEY all came back good as new. Some rarely even have to bother with Stasis Lock. Funny, that. Of course, it's stated numerous times during the battle that Dinobot died from power failure, not from the actual bodily damage he received.


 * Dinobot owns a laptop computer.


 * Dinobot's dialogue, as noted, frequently took a Shakesperian turn; fittingly, he ended his life quoting one of the Bard's greatest works, 'Hamlet'. The words in question are the final words of the doomed prince as he dies at the end of a journey marked with deceit and nobility, revenge and sacrifice, turns of treachery and loyalty and heroism, fitting paralells between Hamlet and Dinobot, two definative 'Anti-Heroes';


 * Dinobot kicked many skidplates in the cartoon. He held Primal off in the first episode, would have owned Megatron had Scorponok not been there, and, as his last hurrah, kicked six skidplates in a row and damaged Megatron. In light of this, he could be one of the best, if not the best, fighter in the entire cartoon series.
 * He also kicked the skidplates of a cool guy, another, more stupid Dino Transformer, a guy with a serious music problem and a walking computer, Thus also making him a popular charchter in general.

"Tell my tale to those who ask. Tell it truly, the ill deeds as well as the good, and let me be judged accordingly. The rest, is silence..."