Scorponok (Movie)


 * Scorponok is a Decepticon from the Movie continuity family.



Scorponok is a small transformer with a symbiotic connection to Blackout. Barely sentient, his main drives are to hunt, destroy, and hunt some more. Since he can tunnel underground with frightening speed, he's incredibly good at ambushing. His favorite past time is playing hide and seek with unsuspecting players, be they robotic or organic. He prefers to be hider and seeker.

Ghosts of Yesterday
He helped Blackout fight Optimus, and sabotaged the Ark.

Transformers (2007) movie


During Blackout's attack on US SOCCENT Forward Operations Base in Qatar, the Decepticon helicopter dispatched Scorponok to seek out and destroy the escaped unit under the command of Captain Lennox.



The next morning, as the surviving soldiers discussed the attack, Scorponok observed their conversation from a distance while hidden in the sand. Targeting Lennox for elimination, Scorponok followed the unit as they made their way to the human boy's village. Choosing his moment to strike just as the men stopped on the outskirts of the settlement, his attack was foiled when Sergeant Epps saw the metal scorpion tail pointed at Lennox's back and shouted a warning (well, it wasn't so much a warning as it was a very, very panicked "WHOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" followed by gunfire, but hey, it counts). The other soldiers joined in the firefight as Scorponok dove under the sand to confuse them, before impaling Sgt. Donnelly and dragging him under the sand.



Driving the soldiers into the village, Scorponok fired a barrage of missiles which destroyed the ruins that the villiage had grown around and critically injured Figueroa. Unfortunately for Scorponok, Lennox's distress call to the Pentagon had gotten through, and a MQ-1 Predator drone relayed images of the Decepticon to astonished US military commanders. They immediately sent two A-10 Thunderbolt IIs to attack Scorponok to little effect, then followed up with a AC-130 Spectre gunship which damaged Scorponok enough for him to dive back into the sand and escape, leaving his broken tail behind.

Scorponok's tail was transported back to the States. Lennox, Epps, and several other soldiers examined it en-route, which lead to the discovery that the only damage the armor didn't either shrug off or quickly heal was the "6000-degree magnesium burn" of a Sabot round. Armed with this knowledge, the humans knew they now had a weapon that could hurt the invaders.

Scorponok's current whereabouts, and what effect the death of his symbiotic partner Blackout will have, are unknown.

Transformers (2007)

 * Scorponok (Deluxe, 2007)
 * Japanese ID number: MD-04




 * Scorponok is a robotic scorpion superficially resembling a Zoids Death Stinger. His body is covered in military warning and command designation markings, suggesting he forms part of a larger military vehicle (hint, hint). Two wheels on the bottom of his beast mode, when pushed on a flat, smooth surface, rotates gears that causes the turbines in his body and the pincers on his arms to spin. His tail features a spring-loaded, yet non-launching stinger that extends when a latch is released.


 * In beast mode, Scorponok can combine with the underside of Blackout's helicopter mode to exploit the larger Decepticon's own gear gimmick system. A geared shaft linked to Blackout's rotor mechanism connects to a geared peg on Scorponok's back. Thus, pressing the button on Blackout's tail not only rotates his blades, but also rotates Scorponok's pincers and the turbines in his body. This gimmick can also be activated (more easily) by rotating the geared wheels on Scorponok's undercarriage instead.


 * Scorponok can transform into what might be charitably called a robot mode, but was most likely added as an afterthought to the design for added play-value. In any case, this robot mode never appears in the movie.


 * Blackout (Voyager, 2007)
 * Japanese ID number: MD-01


 * Blackout comes packed with a small silver figurine of Scorponok, who himself features a spring-loaded tail. He is usually stored in a cage on the rear of Blackout's helicopter mode. (note: the spring in the figurine's tail is oriented, not to spring the tail forward, but to help propel the figure out of the cage so that it lands right side up)


 * Decepticon Desert Attack (multi-pack, 2007)
 * An unchanged Deluxe Scorponok is packaged with a similarly unaltered Voyager Blackout (which also includes Blackout's mini-Scorponok) in this package, which will be available only at Toys R Us.


 * Ignoring the vast difference in scale between Scorponok's two figures while linked to Blackout takes some imagination.

Attacktix

 * Battle Masters Megatron and Scorponok (Battle Master set, 2007)



Trivia

 * According to writer Roberto Orci on the official Transformers Movie board, Ravage was originally going to appear in the movie, but was later changed to Scorponok when the setting of the scenes changed.


 * The movie novelization spells his name "Skorponok", probably yet another late production change.


 * In interviews, Michael Bay constantly refers to him as "Scorponox." Come on, people. It's not like his name's Mxyzptlk.




 * Real physical props of Scorponok's head and tail were made by ILM's crew for certain scenes... most notably Lennox and Epps' examination of the tail leftovers on the plane. The head prop was used in the close-up of Scorponok stalking the SOCCENT survivors.


 * Speaking of real, the famous shot of Scorponok leaping from the sand after a trio of soldiers used in a lot of the promos? Scorponok is the only element of CGI in that shot. The sand-explosion behind the soldiers is real, caused by carefully-timed explosives placed under the dunes, which certainly must have encouraged the actors to run like hell - the looks of fear on their faces are 100% genuine. The overwhelming majority of explosions, flying cars, and broken buildings in the movie are similarly real effects, not CGI.