Cyclonus (Armada)


 * Cyclonus is a Decepticon from the Unicron Trilogy series. He took the name Snow Cat after receiving a new body.



Cautious. Reliable. Uneager. These are not words to describe Cyclonus. He is one wild and craaaaaaazy guy. Seriously, he's the guy in the group that even the other Cons think is a little unbalanced. His usual battle tactic is to rush straight in with every piece of artillery he has blazing, all while laughing maniacally.

He loves combat, and isn't particularly picky about which side he's on, so long as he gets to shoot things. He's not especially bright, but Megatron knows the value of a soldier largely without fear.


 * Japanese name: Sandstorm (Armada), Snowstorm (Energon, Snow Cat body)
 * Hungarian name as Cyclonus: Ciklon (basically means cyclone)
 * Hungarian name as Snow Cat: Hósapka (meaning Snow Cap)
 * ''Polish Armada name: Cyklotron (Cyclotron? This is seriously wacky.)

Armada
Voice actor: Don Brown (US) Isshin Chiba (Japan)

Cyclonus is a wild soldier under Megatron's command. He is closely partnered with his comrade Demolishor, with whom he sometimes shares a love/hate relationship. He is known for having a maniacal personality and will often fire at targets frantically, risking damage to his own teammates. He has a quirky and sarcastic personality, often leading to harsh punishment by his commander. For some unknown reason, Cyclonus had the habit of falling asleep at random intervals during downtime after battles. He could be the first recorded case of a narcoleptic Decepticon.

Cyclonus served Megatron throughout the Unicron Battles, and was a key player in the united Armada against the chaos-bringer. His alternate form is a helicopter, and he often took pleasure in tormenting the three kids under Optimus Prime's protection. He joined the Autobot unit after the demise of Megatron, though with reservations.

Energon
Voice actor: Don Brown (US) Isshin Chiba (Japan)

Cyclonus returned as the guardian of Cybertron City based on the moon. Although he served in his role dutifully, he was yearning for the days of combat. Not long after the attacks on Mars and Asteroid City, the moon would also be attacked, a battle through which Cyclonus would hold up a small resistance before he was presumed destroyed. As Demolishor prepared for more Terrorcon assaults on Earth, Cyclonus surfaced, having tucked tail and ran, abandoning Cybertron City on the moon to be looted of its Energon. Cyclonus assisted Demolishor and the Autobots until Tidal Wave showed up wielding Megatron's Sword, a blade forged by Alpha Quintesson from the Spark of Megatron. Believing that it was proof of Megatron, Cyclonus abandoned the Autobots and Demolishor, joining Alpha Quintesson's forces.

Cyclonus would once again serve Megatron when the commander was revived within Unicron for some time, before sustaining damages from an Autobot assault while retreating. Having failed to topple the Energon towers, Cyclonus returned injured to his commander, begging for repairs. In a rage, Megatron bound Cyclonus to the wall using Unicron's internal tentacles as punishment. Cyclonus was then fused with Unicron's essence in a painful manner and upgraded into Snow Cat, who then took up yodeling, and skiing. During the Powerlinx Battles Snow Cat and Demolishor had to deal with a gigantic Insecticon, who was mutated by the Super Energon.

Cybertron
Universe Toy Bio

Following the Powerlinx Battles Snow Cat went totally starkers (it wasn't a long trip), and without Megatron to guide him, wandered the streets of Kaon, a raving loon during the planet's evacuation.


 * (Note: Snow Cat's Universe bio sets him off-camera during the events of Cybertron rather within the pre-existing Universe storyline. This is likely due to the Universe'' storyline giving way to and folding into the Fanclub Cybertron comic which is set largely on this abandoned Cybertron.)

Energon
Ten years after the destruction of Unicron, Cyclonus was spotted in Cyber City, oddly not blowing anything up.

Later, Snow Cat, under the command of Scorponok, captured the Omnicons in a small town in the Yukon and rigged them to a machine that would extract their energon to feed Unicron, then reprogram them as Terrorcons. However, the Omnicons learned the value of teamwork thanks to the shared-hallucination-induced disembodied advice-giving head of Over-Run, broke free, and totally kicked his ass.

Much later, Snow Cat was one of several Decepticons who attempted to "sneak" into Ocean City and steal the data for the Autobots' Omega Supreme prototype. He rushed into the dark hangar, smacked into a scaffolding like a big dumb doof, and was chased out by security. Megatron didn't buy Snow Cat's recounting of how his daring and skill was thwarted by a "sub sea earthquake" for one second.


 * (Note: Due to the bankruptcy of Dreamwave Productions, it has not been confirmed if Cyclonus and Snow Cat are one and the same in this reality. If Snow Cat was indeed a reformatted Cyclonus, then it is likely that he was taken during the horsemen's attack on Cybertron during issue 21.)

Armada

 * Cyclonus with Mini-Con Crumplezone (Deluxe, 2002/2003)
 * Japanese ID number: MD-04




 * Cyclonus transforms into a Cybertronian helicopter coloured in light blue, light grey with dark blue and gold accents. His Mini-Con Crumplezone can be attached to the front of his helicopter cockpit for added firepower. Attaching Mini-Cons to either of his wing-mounted weapons pods launches a missile. In robot mode, attaching a Mini-Con to the ports on either side of his legs will make a spring-loaded cannon pop up from his shins.


 * The Japanese release of Cyclonus has some slight color differences, including a "separated" painted sigil, and a much brighter white plastic.


 * This mold was also used to make Cybertron Buzzsaw.


 * Sandstorm w/ Cannon and Destruction Micron (Multi-pack, 2003)
 * Japanese ID number: MS-04


 * This Japanese release is largely identical to the single-packed version, except that it comes with the Destruction Mini-Con Team, whose gear-gimmicks were designed to function with Cyclonus.


 * Cyclonus (Happy Meal toy, 2003)


 * Part of the McDonald's Armada promotion, Cyclonus transforms into an assault helicopter. Rolling his vehicle form forward spins his rotor prop, which launches into the air after picking up enough speed, a gimmick like that of the Generation 2 Rotor Force toys.  He could combine with the Happy Meal versions of Megatron, Starscream and Demolishor toys to form a "super vehicle".


 * Megatron with Leader-1 and Cyclonus with Crumplezone (Built to Rule, 2003)




 * Part of the largest Transformers series Built to Rule set, Cyclonus can be assembled into an assault helicopter, a robot, or whatever your imagination can do with the blocks provided. Cyclonus is the only Built to Rule "figure" that does not have some kind of missile launcher.  He came with a block-version of his Mini-Con partner Crumplezone, as well as the larger Megatron with Leader-1 model.


 * Powerlinx Cyclonus with Mini-Con Crumplezone (Deluxe, 2003)




 * This redeco of Cyclonus is designed as something of a questionable homage to Springer, using mostly bright green plastic, as well as dark grey and chocolate-brown. He retains all of his original gimmicks and still has his Mini-Con partner.


 * This toy was not released as part of the normal Micron Legend series in Japan; presumably, it was straight-imported as a USA Edition.


 * In November of 2003, US Toys "R" Us stores had special bonus pack Max-Con (Deluxe) toys, which came with a single bonus Mini-Con attached to the card over their sticker, for less than the price as a normal Max-Con during Toys "R" Us' post-Thanksgiving-day sale. Like Powerlinx Hot Shot, Powerlinx Cyclonus  could come with one of the Adventure Mini-Con Team members: Dune Runner, Iceberg or Ransack.

Energon

 * Cyclonus with Mini-Con Crumplezone (Deluxe, 2004)
 * Japanese ID number: SD-03


 * This is an 'urban-camouflage' redeco of Cyclonus, presented in mostly dark grey with black and purple. The majority of the paint applications are black and white in a camouflage pattern.


 * Released at the start of the Japanese Super Link line, this toy did not appear in the American Energon line until late 2004 as a KB Toys exclusive.


 * Snow Cat (Deluxe, 2004)
 * Japanese ID number: SD-10


 * Snow Cat transforms into a Snow Cat SAM half-track. He is cast in primarily white and light blue plastics, with clear and burgundy for accents. In vehicle mode, the sideskirts can be lowered to form skis for the vehicle to travel on, while in robot mode the skis fold down from his legs. He features twin spring-loaded missile launchers available to him in both modes. Unusually for Transformers of this era, he has a visible cockpit interior with a partially frosted windshield and working windshield wiper.

Universe

 * Snow Cat (Deluxe, 2005)


 * The Energon Snow Cat mold was redecoed and released as an exclusive to Kay-Bee stores in 2005 along with a redeco of Energon Downshift. However, at the time Kay-Bee was undergoing financial troubles, closing numerous stores across the United States, and it appears that the two toys did not make it to a great many of the stores that remained open. Many did make their way to Toy Liquidator outlets, a sub-company within Kay-Bee.  In 2006, it seems the toys finally made it to a wider distribution through the remaining Kay-Bee stores.

Trivia

 * According to the Armada Playstation 2 game instruction booklet, Cyclonus's Armada body has the following statistics:
 * Height: 19' 7" (17' 1" vehicle mode)
 * Weight: 16,550 lbs
 * Power: 1800 shaft horsepower
 * Vehicle top speed: 190 mph


 * The Snow Cat toy was designed to resemble a G.I. Joe vehicle of the same name. This toy also featured a frosted windshield with movable wiper.  Why a good-guy vehicle got turned into a bad-guy robot is unknown.


 * The colors chosen for Universe Snow Cat emulate the colors of vehicles present in G.I. Joe's Night Force sub-line.
 * In the cartoon, Cyclonus NEVER had the right mini-con. In one episode, it is Longarm that he uses, while in another episode, it is Drill Bit (whom he refers to as Crumplezone).