#FINBACK

[knight-says-rollout]

Would you mind telling us about more disabled Cybertronians?

Oh boy would I

For this list let’s focus on physical disabilities, both because they’re the most commonly dismissed by the fandom and bc if we try to cover everything we’d be here all day (that can be another list, maybe, if y’all want)

This isn’t going to be comprehensive bc I’m tired but!! I will aim for a broad variety of examples nonetheless

Bumblebee - You all know him, you all love him. He’s the most obvious and most well known example of a disabled Cybertronian character.

In many iterations he is mute

Not by choice but because he lacks a voice box. Bee physically isn’t capable of speech and depending on the version has different tools to work around that. Sometimes he uses his radio to repurpose song and radio dialogue into speech, in cyberverse he also makes use of the internet for clips. In the aligned continuity (tfp and connected media) he speaks in binary, a very simplified form of language using beeps and buzzes, but still lacks a real voice and can’t form words.

In IDW he has a cane

At one point in the comics Bumblebee was shot by a human protester and as a result used a cane for a good bit of time. I haven’t had the chance to read that far into IDW yet so I’m not sure how long he had the cane for but it was enough time that it’s a solidified part of the charcaters history. I’ve seen little models of the cane for sale, to be paired with bee figures.

TFP Ultra Magnus - everyone’s favorite awkward commander, despite his popularity he’s surprisingly overlooked when it comes to this discussion

An amputee, he lost his hand

During an energon raid with wheeljack, magnus’ hand was crushed. Ratchet couldn’t save it and had to amputate, replacing it with a hooked prosthetic. I call it a prosthetic rather than replacement part because despite him being able to move it, it’s not a hand. Not in the way he had previously, and he has to relearn how to use it at all.

I think that’s an important distinction to make when discussing disability and transformers. Some bots might have only ever had one hand, or no legs, or etc but that’s always been their level of ability and since they Are robotic. Yeah they might not have the same capabilities as another bot but that’s a hard metric to go by. Seekers can fly but a grounder isn’t disabled because they can’t fly too, it’s a different standard.

WFC Shamble - far lesser known than Magnus, and reasonably so, this background character is Also missing a limb

Amputee, leg edition

His prosthetic is a lot less fancy than magnus’s, it’s a simple peg leg. Put em together and you get a pirate. Not much to say about him since i don’t know how he lost the leg, just that he did.

Shadow Striker - Most awesome lady in cyberverse. Unlike the above two, she Was able to get actual replacement parts rather than prosthetics. Despite this, she is both shown throughout the show and implied to have

Impaired mobility

Chronic pain

She was able to get replacement parts yes but they were needed because she was blown up. The limbs she was given were kinda just what the others could Find and as such are mismatched and don’t fit her very well. Her motor skills took a blow especially when it comes to combat, something she used to excel in. Her new limbs are described as unstable and prone to malfunction. The loss of mobility and implied chronic pain that come along with her situation are rough, but she makes do.

SG Soundwave - my favorite little guy, he’s in a bit of a different situation than the previous.

Bad Joints ™

His body was entirely overhauled multiple times, successfully, but the latest frame change was done with conflicting metals. Earth and Cybertronian materials clash in his joints, making them prone to getting stopped up. The most affected hinge being the one on the door to his tape deck. It is so prone to getting stuck that his cassettes refuse to dock with him at risk of getting trapped. To work around this, Soundwave has the aid of a personalized case he carries around that they dock in instead.

IDW Sunstreaker - speaking of assistive devices, this guy was (for a time) a wheelchair user! Or,, hoverchair.

Temporary,,, paraplegic? Correct me if another term fits better

Taking this moment for an aside to say hey!! Lookit that, both canes and hoverchairs are things that canonically and casually exist on cybertron!! It’s not too wild to assume there are bots out there who use them long term!! Yes both characters on this list were repaired eventually but they’re also both very popular old characters from an action based franchise and hasbro doesn’t have the balls to make something like that permanent yet. We the fandom are not hasbro. We can do whatever we damn want with our OCs. It’s canon that ur little guy can use mobility aids.

Ok, PSA over, anyway yeah Sunny’s body was basically wrecked and alpha trion was able to repair all of him except his legs. This put him in a hoverchair for a good amount of time.

Finback - he’s a con, a pirate, who developed a “metal wasting disease”

He’s on permanent life support

The disease is going to kill him eventually, and it’s explicitly stated that he’s come to terms with the idea of his death. In the meantime he’s using pretender tech, kinda like fancy armor, to reinforce himself and boost his immune system

Perceptor - for a microscope, the fact he’s got vision issues in multiple continuities is kinda ironic

He’s fully blind in cyberverse

He lost an eye in IDW

Between the two we get to see both routes taken to work with this. Adaption and technological aid. In cyberverse he uses his scope to compensate for the loss of vision Toph-style. In IDW he built himself a monocle that basically replaces the pieces that are missing.

Now we get into the uniquely Cybertronian disabilities, one’s that don’t quite translate to human conditions

Transmutate - is a beloved bot from beast wars

They can’t transform, they don’t have an alt mode

I’m hazy on the details of their character but afaik they came from a damaged stasis pod. Described as deformed and handicapped for their both their lack of an alt mode and general appearance, they are probably the oldest explicitly disabled Cybertronian character

Xaaron - from G1 is in a similar situation

He can’t transform, it would kill him

Unlike transmutate he does have an alt mode, a tank, but after thousands of years without transforming he is no longer able to. The new stress it would cause on his body would kill him.

Broadside - continuing with the subject of alt modes, this clumsy boy is a boat! That’s not a good thing.

He’s very prone to motion sickness

As you can imagine, chronic sea sickness isn’t the most helpful thing when you are the boat. This brings in the entirely new element of mobility issues that are inherent to alt modes. A bot that functions fine in root form might not in alt mode and vice versa.

Trailbreaker - is another instance of this. He’s not a fast car by any means but that doesn’t stop the fact

His frame has a very high energon cost

Possibly the least fuel efficient autobot, he’s got an outlier ability on top of it all that only further increases his required energon intake. He needs to pay more attention to his energon levels and refuel more often overall.

G1 Knockout - yes that’s right the shiny medic himself is on this list, though not for the same reason as his tfp version, g1 knockout still lives up to his name

He’s prone to fainting

A knockout in the more literal sense, he faints when he gets too excited. Fully collapses and everything. Since he’s a fall risk, his teammates take care to keep an eye on him.

Annnnd Yknow he probably should’ve been earlier in the list along with the “human-ish” issues but I’m tired, it’s late, and I’m bringing this list to a close

Im sure there are more characters that I didn’t mention but I hope this helped! Thank you for the ask

[transformers-mosaic]

Transformers: Mosaic #427 - "History Repeats"

Originally posted on October 29th, 2009

Story - Franco Villa Art - Dane Eichinger Thanks to - Zac DeBoard

deviantART | Seibertron | TFW2005 | BotTalk

Later revised and annotated for The Transformers: Generation One

wada sez: Another of Villa’s Sunbow Pretender ships, introducing six more characters in a different context; this one was labelled as part of “Pretenders To The Throne” alongside later strip “The Call”. I won’t bother repeating all of Villa’s annotations here, but suffice to say, look, they’re doing a Beast Wars! Italian version below.

[gijoe-forever]

[009isdrawing]

Uh oh I’m on my Obscure Transformers Horse again.

Finback! 1988, Decepticon Pretender.

My customary Sloppy Proof-of-Concept Character Model:

[morikeifemme]

Today’s bot of the day is finback!

[nolwemn]

Reketye / Finback

Paralell Parking

Alc.: 7,5%

[hydrias]

long wet things

(fin whales — 4/28/24)

[llycaons]

everyone knows abt the sperm whale and the great blue whale but feels like nobody ever mentions the finback whale...the beautiful second largest creature on earth...

don't worry beloved I see you. here's an aerial shot!

finback whale!!!!

[usafphantom2]

12 June 1984. First flight of the Shenyang J-8II 'Finback-B'. Evolution for pre-series of the high-speed, high-altitude Chinese-built single-seat interceptor fighter aircraft.

@ron_eisele via X

[harveyspictures]

A large finback whale seen in the St Lawrence near Cap Colombier

[katsen13]

Big boy.

Researching whales for character design inspo and I found the scariest one. I wasn’t afraid of whales but now I am.

Thats fucking terrifying. Why are you so long

[humanoidhistory]

Shenyang J-8 Finback fighters being towed into one of the China's many “super-hardened” underground aircraft bunkers. (Business Insider)

[firenati0n]

hi friends!!!!! thank you all for the Sunday tags! 🤍🤍 I'm in Alaska with shitty internet but I love y'all...so here are some pictures from the Roop Adventures

Saw THREE types of whale!!! Orca, finback, and humpback. Did I cry? Who knows.

(yes)

MOUNTAINS ARE SO FUCKING METAL LIKE THEY'RE SO BIG AND INSANE

sea lions and glaciers and open water oh man the air was CRISP AS FUCK

calling this fic research for proposal au even though Alex and Henry never step foot in Alaska but who cares

SEE Y'ALL NEXT WEEK 💕💕💕💕💕

xoxo roop

[1980sactionfigures]

Finback - Transformers (Hasbro)

[blueikeproductions]

So some updates in what appears to be coming next post EarthSpark, and might be coming sooner than we think.

User JtPrime17 on TFW2005 has reported on the matter, reinforcing ProtoMan’s earlier comments.

The next show, & evidently its toyline too, is already in the works, no more EarthSpark after S2. The new thing however is 2025 might be when we’re gonna see it. Much sooner than I honestly expected. When in 2025 is not clear as of typing as we still haven’t heard of if/when the next batch of ES S2 will premier yet either. The toys for the new show are, either way, solicited to retailers for 2025.

The other leak is also intriguing, and maybe a sign Hasbro is loosening the leash. JtPrime17 also reports that the cast for the Decepticons LACKS Megs, Screamer & the Waves whatsoever. He can’t say more for understandable reasons, but this is quite a shake up, as Cyberverse, IDW, IDW2, EarthSpark, One & Skybound have all featured the Frag’d Four in some major capacity.

Perhaps this is a return to RiD15 style Decepticons? Not so much the beast theme, but the idea of using all new characters (Steeljaw, Clampdown, Underbite & so forth) or existing characters that don’t get used much like Cyclonus & the Stunticons.

Now RiD15 did eventually use Screamer & Soundwave as major villains, but curiously avoided Shockwave & never used Megatron (The Fallen doesn’t count). Skybound is following a similar approach with Shockwave as the current major villain, Soundwave having taken over leadership from Starscream (who may or may not be offline) & Megatron having escaped Cobra-La but having sustained major damage.

Perhaps Hasbro is realizing selling the same versions of the Frag’d Four with little variation (ES Shockwave is just the Cyberverse mold with Action Master colors, not matching the show at all) or not offering better size classes for kids & collectors (ES Bomber Soundwave is so far stuck as a One Step Changer and he shelfwarms horribly my way) doesn’t work.

The Terran toys that seem to do the best my way are Jawbreaker & Thrash, since I rarely see them stocked, where as Nightshade & Twitch are mostly shelf warmers. So new characters at least can work, & I hope to see some new ones or at least obscure ones getting a chance to shine like Finback, Bugly, Iguanus, Lugnut, Thunderblast & the like. It does appear Airachnid has new relevance once more via TFONE, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see her included in the next thing.

On that note, the new show doesn’t appear to be a One continuation (I feel like Protoman & JtPrime17 would’ve eluded to it), as the lack of Megatron in particular doesn’t make sense in that context. It’s also not a Skybound adaption either since the Decepticon cast is mostly G1 cartoon S1-S2 characters thus far.

No Autobot cast was teased yet to my knowledge though until told otherwise I’m gonna assume it’s Marvel G1, RiD15, Energon, RotB logic: Optimus and/or Bumblebee as the main Autobots again, a mix & match team of old & new Autobots vs a new Decepticon or Terrorcon faction with a new leader for the time being. Steeljaw, Scorponok, Bludgeon, RatBat, Alpha Q, Scourge, and Shatter are what we got before, so I’m eager to see who we get next.

[shark-of-tha-day]

shark of the day: cuban ribbontail catshark, eridacnis barbouri

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cuban ribbontail catsharks are small finback catsharks. they grow to be about 30 cm(~1 ft) long. cuban ribbontail catsharks are found in deep water around florida and cuba. they feed on small fish, crustaceans, and cephalopods.