Obsidian (BM)

The name or term Obsidian refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Obsidian (disambiguation).

Obsidian is a Vehicon in the Beast Machines portion of the Beast Era continuity family.

"Wait, if my propellor's aren't spinning, then how am I flying?"

Obsidian and his consort Strika have fought for Cybertron in countless battles... and won them all. Though he is sophisticated and canny, able to concoct strategies with layers upon layers, his purpose is single-minded. He defends Cybertron.

There is some fine print. Whoever happens to be in charge, whether a benevolent or malevolent force, in his reasoning, is Cybertron. Once power changes hands, so does he. He is loyal only to the planet, and perhaps his consort Strika, not to any moral ideals. As his fellow Vehicon General Thrust has remarked, "If you're loyal to everybody, can you really be loyal to anybody?"... a question that has given Obsidian pause.

While he was pretending to be dumber-even-than-Tankor, his activation code (and, indeed, his entire vocabulary) was "obliterate". He dropped the word when the ruse was over.

In an alternate universe, Obsidian was a former Autobot who rose to overthrow Megatron and take over Cybertron, only to be abducted by Unicron to serve as his Minion.

Note: Obsidian has been variously credited as a former Autobot or as a former Predacon.

Fiction

Beast Machines cartoon

Voice Actor: Paul Dobson (English), Masaya Onosaka (Japanese)

Obsidian, LA Nails spokes-bot.

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Universe toy pack-in CD-ROM

Whee.

On an alternate Cybertron, Obsidian fought alongside the Decepticons Tankor, Razorclaw, Reptilion, and Blackarachnia against Optimus Primal and his Autobots. One of these battles - the most violent of that year - was interrupted by a mysterious ship that sucked those Decepticons up on beams of light and sped away. None of the combatants realized that it was taking its captives to Unicron for use in a massive army. Universe CD-ROM

Note: This comic shows no signs of being intended to mesh with other Universe fiction. There are inconsistencies in many of its elements, but given that Universe is entirely ABOUT alternate dimensions, it could still be a side note to the greater storyline. Obsidian is one of the few characters who could conceivably be the same ones who show up the main Universe comic, but it is up to the reader to decide if that's the case.

3H Universe comic

In a parallel universe, the Predacon Megatron "decimated" Cybertron's population by capturing their sparks, including the vaunted Autobot general Obsidian. (It is unknown whether this literally means he only got one-tenth of the Cybertronians.) When Megatron gave him a new, helicopter-based body, Obsidian hid his thirst for revenge behind a feigned loyalty. He conspired with the brute Tankor, eventually using the latter's raw strength to carry out Megatron's termination. Obsidian, now an "ex-Autobot," supplanted the Predacon's rule with an iron-fisted tyranny of his own. With his enforcer Tankor at his side, he put down uprisings and held the planet in fear... until Unicron decided that such a mindset would serve his own purposes, and he pulled them out of their universe entirely.

Unicron, his ruined form trapped between dimensions, sought to revitalize himself by pitting abducted Transformers against each other within his own body, absorbing their energon radiation and, eventually, sparks. But Obsidian was spared this fate, instead overseeing the deathmatch arena along with Tankor, Razorclaw, and Reptilion. Silverbolt, one of the intended victims, recognized Obsidian. Obsidian confirmed the familiarity, but noted that in his and Tankor's own timeline, Silverbolt had "died screaming." Abduction

For all his boasting and accomplishments, though, Obsidian still did a pretty crappy job of keeping Optimus Primal from freeing Silverbolt and dozens of other captives. Escape Notably, by this time Obsidian's allegiance had fully switched to "Decepticon," though it's unclear if this was before or after his coming under the thrall of Unicron.

Timelines comic continuity

Voice Actor: Paul Dobson (English)

The Tripredacus agent Flamewar was held prisoner and interrogated by a group of Autobots and Maximals which included Obsidian. However, it transpired that the questioning was merely a test of suitability by the Predacon insurrectionist Megatron, and the entity appearing to be Obsidian was in fact a disguised Buzz Saw. Intimidation Game

Note: This story, if it is part of the mainstream Beast Era universe, would be somewhere around the beginning of the Pax Cybertronia. However, it is tied directly to Descent Into Evil, which has been declared out-of-continuity by one of its creators. Take that as you will.

Toys

Beast Machines

• Obsidian (Basic, 2000)
  • Accessories: Two rotors

A Basic-price point toy in the Beast Machines line, Obsidian transforms into a twin-rotor assault helicopter vaguely similar to an Osprey. His cockpit in helicopter mode is multi-jointed to allow it movement to look around, the Vehicons' toy aesthetic being "living vehicles". The cockpit's "eyes" further enhance the effect. The two rotor blades are pressure-launch projectiles.

The same mold is used by Robots in Disguise Obsidian and Universe Obsidian. A hand-painted mock-up of the mold was presented as a proposed Wreckers Rotorbolt as a future BotCon exclusive, but was never produced.

Universe

• Tankor & Obsidian (Ultra, 2003)

A redeco of the Beast Machines Obsidian toy with darker deco featuring silver-paint "energon surge" splash-patterns.

Beast Wars Returns

• Obsidian (Basic, 2005)
  • Japanese ID number: BR-14
  • Accessories: Two rotors

In 2005 the toy was redecoed and released as part of the Japanese Toys 'R' Us exclusive Beast Wars Returns series, the Japanese version of Beast Machines. Having been produced several years after the cartoon was, this version had a deco considerably more show-accurate than the original, but still not quite there, physical differences between the mold and show model regardless.

Trivia

• At one point Obsidian was planned to have a deluxe toy that would be more show-accurate. Sadly, this toy never made it past pre-production. (Rotorbolt was originally going to be a BotCon exclusive redeco of this mold, explaining why he was drawn to match Obsidian's show appearance in the Wreckers comics rather than the Basic toy.)
• Story editor Bob Skir wanted to depict Obsidian and Strika's to return Cybertron after the reformatting wave hit in the last episode, making them the only two purely mechanical beings remaining. However, this never made it into the series.
• Obsidian's Universe coloration is not far at all from the proposed colors for the unmade Wrecker Rotorbolt (save the "energon surge" deco, of course). As such, many fans use him as a substitute for the haughty Predacon.

External Links

• Obsidian at TFU.info

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