Scourge (RID)


 * Scourge is a Decepticon from the Robots in Disguise continuity family.



A protoform scanning mishap resulted in a Decepticon protoform attaining attributes of Optimus Prime yet retaining the Decepticon programming. This protoform became Scourge. Scourge is arguably Megatron's second in command, leading the new Decepticon forces, a much more effective unit than Sky-Byte's Predacons.

He is a ruthless and cunning warrior who contains all of Optimus Prime's strengths and skill, but none of his compassion and mercy. He's also a very ambitious warrior, with plans to dethrone Megatron!

Scourge's greatest strength is also his weakness--his temper. Fearless and furious, he charges into battle wildly hacking his broadsword as his trailer combat deck launches missile barrages overhead. Yet his rage also makes him impatient, petulant, and easily provoked; it also scares the heck out of his subordinates.

Naturally, Sky-Byte sees Scourge as a threat on just about every level. For once, he's right.


 * Japanese name: Black Convoy

Robots in Disguise cartoon

 * Voice actor: Barry Stigler (English), Taitem Kusunoki (Japanese)

The robot who came to be named Scourge was originally one of a crew of six Autobots sent to Earth to reactivate the legendary Autobot battle station, Fortress Maximus. As leader of the expedition, Scourge was equipped with the ability to detect the unique energy signatures of the O-Parts, the Cybertronian components that held the key to reawakening Maximus. However, Scourge never had the opportunity to use that ability in the service of the Autobots, when the team's craft malfunctioned and crashed on Earth in the mid-20th century. Having been in protoform-state with stasis pods for the duration of their voyage, the six Autobots were entombed in their crashed ship.

In the early days of the 21st century, archaeologist and energy expert Doctor Onishi's work eventually led him to find the various links in the chain of Fortress Maximus - he located the fortress itself beneath Metro City, mapped the location of the O-Parts, and discovered the location of the crashed Autobot spaceship. However, when the evil Megatron came to Earth with the intent of harnessing Maximus's power, he captured Onishi, and through mental scans, discerned the location of the Autobots' ship. Stealing the six protoforms, Megatron took them to a nearby military base to scan vehicle modes for them, infusing them with a part of his own spark energy to turn them to the side of evil. The first five became the Commandos, but when Megatron targeted a tanker truck to scan as the alternate mode of the final protoform, Optimus Prime leapt into action in order to save the truck's human driver (the eternally-luckless Kelly), and as a result, the tanker, Prime and the human were all scanned. With an infusion of Megatron's spark energy to complete the concoction, Scourge was born, emerging from his pod as a dark twin of Optimus Prime, who proved that Megatron's programming had over-ridden any Autobot goodness within him. Appointing himself leader of the new "Decepticons," he quickly established himself as a force to be reckoned with.

After leading a series of unsuccessful missions - with failure sometimes due to the interference of his Predacon rival Sky-Byte - during which Optimus Prime constantly but vainly urged him to search for the true Autobot nature within himself, Scourge developed a fierce independent streak, steadily growing more and more revolted at being in the service of Megatron. Eventually, when Fortress Maximus was discovered buried beneath Metro City, exposure to the battle station's energies began to reawaken memories the original mission Scourge had been programmed with. As the race began to locate the O-Parts, Scourge rediscovered his ability to sense them. Holding one in his hand, his mission was now clear to Scourge - but unfortunately, Megatron's reprogramming added a distinctly Decepticon bent to it, as Scourge now sought to use the power of Fortress Maximus to conquer the galaxy for himself.

Successfully capturing Cerebros, the power key to Fortress Maximus, Scourge used the part of his bio-signature that was Optimus Prime's to dupe the robot into activating Maximus, but the giant robot ran amok until the Autobots' human ally, Koji was able to stop it. Realizing that humans could control Maximus, Scourge then amplified the human part of his bio-signature and succeeded in taking control of the giant, until he was overridden by a large group of human children. Seeking to use Koji himself for the process, a case of mistaken identity resulted in the Decepticons capturing his best friend, Karl, instead, but when Karl proved able to activate Fortress Maximus, Scourge dropped his façade of loyalty and ordered Maximus to destroy Megatron (now Galvatron). The failure of this plan brought about a punishment most severe - Scourge and the Decepticons had their autonomy stripped by Galvatron, turned once again into loyal servants so dedicated to Galvatron that they continued to do his will even after he attempted to kill them with molten lava as a belated punishment. With Galvatron's ultimate defeat at the hands of Omega Prime, Scourge was captured and taken back to Cybertron for imprisonment with the other villains.

Robots in Disguise

 * Black Convoy (Destronger, 2000)
 * Japanese ID number: D-012


 * A black redeco of the Laser Optimus Prime mold, Black Convoy is a black Western Star 4964EX truck with teal paint apps, and darkish pink windows. His trailer is chrome, and he lacks all of Laser Prime's stickers.  The toy lacks all of Laser Prime's electronics, to keep costs down.  However, the arms still are restricted in motion, to prevent breaking the wires that no longer exist in the toy.


 * Due to the molded G2 Autobot symbols on the discs Black Convoy's launcher has, Takara made Black Convoy's faction symbol the G2 Autobot one, but upside down.


 * Scourge (Decepticon, 2002)




 * The US release of Black Convoy, sold exclusively at Toys-R-Us. Specimens sold at retail were very similar to Black Convoy.  Notable changes were that red translucent plastic replaces all the pink; the stickers are now a flat light gray with Decepticon logos instead of glossy silver with "negative-Autobot" logos; the sword was blunted; and the discs were remolded to make them blank, removing the faction symbol.  The only change in paint is that Scourge has Decepticon sigils tampographed on his doors, while lacking Black Convoy's teal "stripe" along the cab's nose.  The license plate sticker on the tanker now states "SCOURGE D-012".


 * An early wave of Scourges sold on the Toys-R-Us website had the American-styled stickers but retained the Japanese cab paint applications and pink plastic.


 * This version of the mold was later reused by Sonokong as Car Robots Black Convoy in the South Korean market, with Hasbro's paint decos and darker red plastic, but with Black Convoy's stickers.


 * X-Brawn / Scourge (Basic, 2002)


 * The only new tooling for this character, Spychanger Scourge was only available in a 2 pack with a Spychanger version of X-Brawn. Like most Spychangers, he features high speed axles and can roll very well across smooth surfaces, but lacks the weight to propel him quickly.


 * As with most of the new Robots in Disguise releases, the X-Brawn / Scourge pack was available in Japan as a 'USA Edition' mass-released toy.


 * Ironically, this mold was later redecoed both as Generation 1 Spychanger Optimus Prime in the Universe toyline and as "Movie" Optimus Prime for a Japanese pack-in DVD exclusive.


 * Destructicon Scourge (Deluxe, 2003)


 * Released as a Kay-Bee Toys exclusive, Destructicon Scourge is a black redeco of Hero Optimus Prime. In either robot mode or tanker mode, he carries a missile launcher that fires when its air silo is squeezed.  Scourge comes with two rubber-tipped missiles which can store on his back in robot mode.


 * By the time this toy was released, its tooling had degraded somewhat since Hero Prime's original production run. As a result, neither robot nor vehicle mode held together very well on many specimens.  Keeping his missiles stored was difficult, as they liked to pop out from their storage clips involuntarily.  Additionally, initial shipments appear to have been missing a certain part that allowed the waist to ratchet, instead letting it spin freely.

Trivia

 * Scourge's color scheme pretty much set the tone for the parade of evil clones that would follow for the next five years and up. Granted, it's a pretty color scheme, but it's been overused by now.