Snapper
From Transformers Wiki
- Snapper is a Predacon from the Beast Era portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.
Everyone knows the tortoise beat the hare, but had that tortoise been Snapper, he'd have beat the hare into a bloody pulp and hid the remains at the bottom of a swamp. A foul-mouthed crank of a Predacon, Snapper complains endlessly about everything, and anyone who tries to get him to lighten up or see the bright side will be subjected to a furious tirade of insults. According to his comrades, he will not shut his face unless he's in a desperate situation. Boasting a bulky superstructure and a powerful set of jet-propelled thrusters, Snapper is proof that not all turtles are slowpokes. But unlike another jet-powered warrior turtle, Snapper is anything but a friend to children everywhere.
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Fiction
Dreamwave Generation One continuity
After the Maximals left prehistoric Earth at the end of the Beast Wars, Magmatron traveled to the organic world to activate all protoforms that had been left behind, planning to turn them into Predacons in the process. Snapper was among the protoforms activated to this end. Shell Game #1
2006 IDW Beast Wars continuity
One account placed the Decepticon who would one day call himself "Snapper" serving under Megatron at the tail-end of the Great War. He participated in Megatron's attack on Tigatron when he approached the Decepticons to broker peace between the two factions, and in the subsequent assault on the Primal Council's base of operations. They were pushed back by Magnaboss. Afterwards, the Tripredacus Council arrived on the scene, and surrendered to the Autobots on behalf of all Decepticons, ending the war. Dawn of the Predacus
Another account claimed that Snapper, as a Maximal, joined the Axalon crew as he wished to get away from war and occupy himself with peaceful exploration. Beast Wars Sourcebook #4
He would not get his wish, as Magmatron came to prehistoric Earth to gather an army using the Axalon's protoforms. Snapper was among the protoforms to be successfully turned into Predacons. The Gathering #1 Magmatron ordered his forces to seek out the double-agent Razorbeast and his crew of Maximals. The Gathering #2 Within a few days, the Predacons had located the Maximal headquarters, and battle ensued. During that battle, Snapper tangled with K-9. The Maximals won that fight, and Snapper and the surviving Predacons retreated into the wilderness. The Gathering #4
He was later with Manterror and Retrax while spying on the Maximals. That is, until Grimlock decided he'd be better as a footrest. The Ascending #1 He was left behind on Earth to fight the Blendtrons, and managed to survive that battle. The Ascending #4
Beast Wars: Uprising
Snapper was a member of the Resistance, an alliance of Maximals and Predacons fighting together to overthrow the tyrannical Builders of Cybertron that ruled over them. He operated under the legendary Grimlock, alongside Barbearian, Mach Kick, and The Man Terror. While their leader was away on a mission, Snapper and Barbearian started scuffling over some petty insult, eventually dragging the other members of their cell into the brawl. When Grimlock returned, he broke up the kerfuffle and berated all four of his underlings for neglecting their posts. The former Dinobot then informed them that he had acquired a powerful weapon to be unleashed onto their oppressors: the G-Virus.
Snapper's group infiltrated Tesarus Arena to infect as many Builders as possible with the virus. Though they managed to make some headway unimpeded, they wound up stumbling into an ambush. Mach Kick was blown to bits immediately, and Snapper attempted to flee, only to be stopped by Grimlock. Telling his subordinate that they would only encounter a greater number of enemy units should they attempt to retreat, Grimlock insisted the group press on. The remaining Resistance fighters managed to take out a couple of Micromaster troopers before Hot Rod, Spaceshot, and Blackout came in to reinforce the opposition. While Grimlock and Hot Rod tore into one another, Snapper and The Man Terror were left to contend with the two sisters. Man Terror was in turn destroyed, but both sisters were incapacitated, allowing Grimlock to hand over the G-Virus over to Snapper for delivery into the arena's crowd. As Snapper was readying to fire the virulent payload, Hot Rod revealed to him what the G-Virus actually did; the weapon had been reverse-engineered from Galvatron's remains, and would replicate the process that had turned Megatron into the mad scion of Unicron in every Transformer it infected. Disgusted that Grimlock would unleash a hundredfold more of the "worst Builder of all time" onto Cybertron, Snapper destroyed the G-Virus and surrendered himself to the encroaching authorities. In thanks for his cooperation, Hot Rod promised Snapper that he'd be treated fairly. Micro-Aggressions
Rodimus was as good as his word, but this didn't prevent the Resistance putting a bounty on Snapper's head. While imprisoned, he faced three separate attempts on his life. After a few years, he was scheduled for a transfer to Iacon itself, but the prisoner convoy was attacked en-route. One of his guards, realizing Snapper was the intended target, freed him in the hopes her attacker would go after him. Instead, Snapper was cornered by a Maximal. Assuming that he was there to claim the bounty, Snapper prepared to go down fighting, but was more surprised when the newcomer said he was there to recruit Snapper for something. While sceptical, there was something about the earnestness in the Maximal's voice that swayed Snapper. They found his partner tangling with the guard and one of his would-be assassins, who decided to destroy the bridge they were on, sending all five of them plummeting into the depths.
They came too surprisingly uninjured, and began arguing before Overshoot told them they needed to go further down. So down they went, through layers of ancient abandoned Cybertronian cities, Snapper winding up carried on Rampage's back when the climb got too exhausting for him, until they reached the absolute bottom, and their destination: The Oracle. It granted a vision to Overshoot, warning of a group called the "Spawn of Antares" and telling them to protect humans. Snapper recognized the name as a group of supposed Predacons his cell had traded with for the G-Virus in exchange for information on humanity. Realizing there was some imminent threat brewing, the motley group decided they needed to get back to the surface and fast. Fortunately, they were able to return much quicker than they'd descended, and on reaching the surface heard a distress call warning of a siege on a trans-hyperwave caster tower nearby. Knowing this was whatever they had been summoned to stop, the group went to confront the Antares Eight. However, they were forced to surrender when Creepy held Stiletto at gunpoint, before his confederates summarily executed Overshoot. Acting quickly, Rampage grabbed Snapper and Buckethead and hurled them over a nearby ledge to avoid being killed themselves. The harsh landing seemed to kill him, but just as Buckethead and Snapper were eulogizing him Rampage sprang back to extremely tetchy life, and demanded they fetch up his parts. Once they did so, Buckethead pointed out their lousy chances, prompting Snapper to suggest they gather reinforcements while he went to try and rescue Stiletto. He arrived at the lair of the Antares Eight just in time to save her from a vengeful Scorp, only for Vamp to walk in on them and attack. The strange alien managed to take Snapper hostage, and used the opportunity to flee with her battered comrade. Left behind, Snapper and Stiletto decided to explore the base for useful information, only to find a database full of weird info Snapper couldn't parse, and that Vamp had set the self-destruct sequence, the two barely escaping in time.
They arrived at the tower to find their allies already fighting with the Antares Eight. Snapper managed to take out another of the alien cyborgs, but was distracted and immobilized by Bladez, who made him watch as his ally Oddball arrived with their secret weapon: the combiner Monsterous. Even the formation of Devastator seemed unable to turn the tide, until Snapper saw the fight had Bladez too distracted to notice what he was doing, allowing him to remotely access his now-severed arm and use it to fire on Bladez. With him gone, Snapper was able to help his allies overcome the remaining members of the Antares Eight, and distract Monsterous long enough for Devastator to win. However, the moment of triumph was spoiled when Snapper did a head count and realized they'd only accounted for seven of the eight. And worse, the humans had fallen for the bait and were on their way. Hurrying up the tower, Snapper and the others rushed into a trap set by Creepy. Only Stiletto managed to avoid it, thanks to a spectral warning from Overshoot's ghost, allowing her to deal with the last Antarean and the humans. In the aftermath, and once Snapper had taken advantage of a nearby Beast Pod to get himself a new Beast Mode, Builders and Resistance alike met in the nearby Sights & Sounds Casino to discuss Snapper's fate. Rampage quickly made it clear he would refuse to allow anyone to take the Predacon anywhere unwillingly. The Constructicons similarly decided to join with the newly minted "Ex-Bots", followed by Magmatron and most of his crew, once they heard the truth of why Snapper had been imprisoned. However, the mood was ruined when Jackpot cut in with the news that the entire Maximal Command Security Force had gone rogue and declared themselves independent. Cultural Appropriation
2005 IDW continuity
Snapper was one of Onyx Prime's Maximals. When this bestial horde invaded Cybertron, he was one of the many warriors who wound up battling Arcee. Endless Forever
Scorching Heat Showdown
After Armordillo came across some vital information, Snapper pursued the Maximal across a volcanic region before Megalligator shot down the Maximal. Megalligator ordered Snapper to extract the information from Armordillo's memories, but they were interrupted by Convobat before they could do so. Scorching Heat Showdown
2021 Beast Wars comic
The Cybertronian who would become Snapper was one of the many Maximal protoforms aboard the Axalon. To eliminate the Maximals and Predacons, Tarantulas and the Vok brought every crashed stasis pod they could find online and reprogrammed the protoforms within into loyal "Children of the Vok". Together, they attacked the crashed Darksyde in an attempt to take out the Maximal-Predacon alliance; when the Maximals and Predacons destroyed the Vok themselves, however, their remaining followers agreed to a truce and left to live peacefully in the wilderness. The End
Toys
Beast Wars
- Snapper (Basic Class, 1996)
- Accessories: "Triple barrel gun"
- Known designers: Takio Ejima (TakaraTomy), Masakatsu Saito (concept artist)
- Part of the second wave of first-year Beast Wars Basics, Snapper transforms into a green organic snapping turtle, complete with opening jaw. Like the other first-year Beast Wars Basic figures, his transformation is a one-step spring-loaded affair; pressing down his tail converts him most of the way from turtle to robot. A portion of his shell-back pops free, revealing a flip-out multi-barreled blaster weapon that can peg onto his forearms.
- Kazan no Taiketsu: Armor VS Snapper (VS set, 1997)
- ID number: VS-X1
- Accessories: "Triple barrel gun"
- Snapper was available in Japan exclusively in a large "Volcano Showdown" (火山の対決) set containing him, his "rival" Armor, and a large battery-operated volcano playset.
- The two figures in the set are functionally identical to the Hasbro releases of the toys.
Merchandise
Beast Wars Transformers Mutating Card Game
- Beast Wars Transformers Mutating Card Game (1997)
- Snapper was one of the 24 beast warriors to receive a battle card representation for the Beast Wars card game.
Notes
- Snapper was initially named "Buzzsaw" in development.[1] This name would later be assigned to a different character.
- At one point, Hasbro planned for McDonald's toys of "Buzzsaw" as a "Flip-Out" toy and as an "Auto Roller" toy,[2] with a parallel mold as a sea turtle version of Megatron.[3]
- Snapper's design serves as the basis for the 2021 Beast Wars comic character, Skold, whose beast mode is an alligator snapping turtle.
- Snapper's pre-beast vehicular body in Beast Wars: Uprising is modeled on Generations Fall of Cybertron Deluxe Class Brawl/Twintwist.
Foreign names
- Japanese: Snapper (スナッパー Sunappā)
- French: Morsure (Canada, "Bite")
- Italian: Snap
- Spanish: Tortugon (America, "Turtlon")
References
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CJC-i7cgfHR/ Hasbro concept presentation for McDonald's collaboration Flip-Out Transformers - Instagram post by @roboticplanettoys, 20 December 2020
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CJE7ynpgIbp/ Hasbro concept presentation for McDonald's collaboration Creature Auto Rollers - Instagram post by @roboticplanettoys, 21 December 2020
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CJMGq03g3QZ/ Hasbro concept presentation for McDonald's collaboration Creature Fold-Out Transformers - Instagram post by @roboticplanettoys, 24 December 2020