Conehead
From Transformers Wiki
Coneheadis a tongue-in-cheek fan term for theSeekersthat were released in 1985—Thrust,DirgeandRamjet.Though the toys were virtually identical to the original Seekers, their animation models were given a distinctive transformation that left the jet nosecone pointing up, hence the nickname. Another difference is that their wings don't flip up to appear as part of the upper body, and instead seem to be part of their legs. (Thrust's wingsdochange orientation—the leading edge of his wings facesdownin robot mode, unlike the other two—but they remain part of his legs.)
The animation models for the Conehead Seekers were designed byFloro Dery,whereas the season one Seekers were done primarily by Japanese designerShōhei Kohara.The name "Coneheads"is taken from an early"Saturday Night Live"sketch (and later, movie) about a pointy-headed family fromouter spaceFrance.
A simple way to remember which of the core six G1 Seekers are Coneheads, is that the names of the Coneheads are real words, as opposed to made-up words such as "Starscream".
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Fiction
Generation 1 continuity family
The Transformerscartoon
The Coneheads arrived onEarthsometime during the war along withBlitzwingandAstrotrain.A generic Conehead appeared onChaarin "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 1".The Transformers
Marvel Comics continuity
Transformers '84
The Conehead trio were part ofDecepticon High Commandand part of the crew of theNemesis.WhenShockwave's absence risked delaying the launch, the Coneheads were to sent to theProject Dreadnoughthub to retrieve him, later boarding the ship.Secrets & Lies #1
When the time came to attack theArkhowever,Megatronordered the Coneheads to remain outside the Autobot ship in jet mode in case any Autobots attempted to flee. As a result, the Coneheads were spared the crash landing. Retreating to theNemesis,the three informed Shockwave of what had happened only for the scientist to infect them all with ascrapletvirus, leaving them convulsing while he planetside.Secrets & Lies #2
The three were healed by theNemesis's environmental protocols and made tracks after Shockwave. Their entry into the atmosphere was detected byAUNTIEwho constructed drones in the likeness ofGrapple,Hoist,Skids,Smokescreen,andTracksto meet the trio. Instead of Shockwave, the three found theArkand engaged the drones in combat, caught off-guard by their utterly ruthless foes.Secrets & Lies #3
As the battle raged,Grimlockand Megatron burst out of theArk.Seeing that the latter was channelinganti-matter,the three fell back, shouting a warning to Grimlock that Megatron was being controlled. Returning to theNemesis,the Coneheads tried to return to Cybertron but found themselves unable to engage the ship's propulsion systems. Ringing upStraxus,they informed him of their findings and requested a rescue ship. The Regional Liege agreed to send rescue on the condition that they conveniently forget where theArk,and Megatron, lay. Faced with the alternative of Straxus brutally killing them, the three readily agreed.Secrets & Lies #4
DreamwaveGeneration Onecontinuity
Among the threeAerospace Extermination Squadron unitsthat went afterGetaway,there was one conehead.War Within: The Age of Wrath
G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers
At least one conehead was among the Transformers captured and enslaved byCobra,who modified him into aRattleraircraft.G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers #2Though they were eventually released from Cobra's control, the conehead was killed by an energy beam fired by the out-of-controlSPS Satellite.G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers #6
Since Cobra painted all their Rattlers blue, the identity of the conehead is unknown. He couldn't have been one of the main trio anyway, as Dirge, Ramjet and Thrust were all seen on Cybertron later on.G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers II #1The Art of War #5
Transformers vs. G.I. Joe
An anonymous conehead stood guard atTrypticonwhenDestroarrived through theM.A.S.S. Device.Funeral for a FriendA yellow conehead participated in the attack onMetroplexand battled theG.I. Joeforces in the sky.Everybody Hates Metroplex
War for Cybertron Trilogycartoon
Ramjet, Dirge, and Thrust were members ofDoubledealer's crew ofMercenaries,Earthrise episode 1hired byDeseeusto bring in theAutobotsaboard theArk.However, after Deeseeus refused to pay them, the coneheads helped the Autobots escape and battled theQuintesson'sforces.Earthrise episode 2By the time Deseeus took a hands-on approach by controlling Doubledealer's mind, the coneheads cut their losses and defected from theFool's Fortunecrew.Earthrise episode 6
2019 IDW continuity
Ramjet, Dirge and Thrust were an infamous mercenary trio. Following theDecepticonstaking over theSenate,they found themselves inThunderwing's employ atHexagon.When theTechnical Specialistsarrived at Hexagon to arrestVigilem,the three guided the Autobots around the station for a while before Thunderwing's true intentions were revealed. When the Specialists fell into the experimentalCombination Coreand reemerged asComputron,the Coneheads distracted thecombinerlong enough for Thunderwing to detach the segment that the giant was in.Light/Star
Animatedcartoon
Swindlegave thelying Starscream clonea cone shaped helmet in order to tell him apart fromSunstorm.Decepticon AirHe later createdDirgeandThrustand outfitted them with the same type of helmet.The AllSpark Almanac II
Cyberversecartoon
Prior to theGreat War,RamjetandDirgewere personal bodyguards forStarscream,accompanying him to a game ofCubeand helping him in conducting some mischief.Cube
When the Autobots tried to send theAllsparkoffCybertron,Ramjet was among the Decepticons who attacked thespace bridgein a failed attempt to stop this plan.Allspark
Afterburnerwas among theMercenarieswho froze and attempted to loot Cybertron during the signing of theTreaty of the Wall.Bug Biteoften referred to him as a "crummy conehead".The Immobilizers
Bumblebeefilm
Various coneheads were among the Seeker hordes under the command ofShockwave.Among them wasThrust,who rallied behindStarscreamas they attacked the Autobots' launch pad to prevent them from evacuating Cybertron. While they succeeded in this task, all the Autobots saveOptimus Primemanaged to escape before the launchpad tower fell. After Prime was attacked byRavage,coneheads and other Decepticons closed in to attack the Autobot leader. Despite this, Prime managed to escape the planet.Bumblebee
Onefilm
Many coneheads were among Cybertron'sHigh Guard.One of them was part of a duo who capturedOrion Pax,D-16,Elita-1,andB-127to be brought beforeStarscream.DuringAirachnid's raid on the High Guard base, several were killed in the attack.One
Games
Transformers: Devastation
Transformers: Bumblebee Overdrive
Purple Coneheads were among the Decepticons defending their multiple bases against Autobot invasors.Transformers: Bumblebee Overdrive
Angry Birds Transformers
Coneheads is a squad containing Ramjet, Dirge and Thrust. All three are portrayed byMinion Pigs.Angry Birds Transformers
Toys
The Transformers
- Decepticon Planes(1985)
- The original Coneheads featured retooled Seeker wings for each individual, but the same head sculpt as the original Seekers for each of them. It is possible to give them a more cartoon-accurate appearance by deliberately leaving the nosecone folded up for them, however. Thrust is notably different from his teammates in that he possesses normal Seekernull-raysinstead of the new "cluster bomb" guns created for Ramjet and Dirge. The unique wing pieces possessed by the Coneheads deviate heavily from the standard Seeker wings - Dirge possesses delta wings with a front canard, Ramjet's wings resemble the prototypeF-16XL's delta wings, and Thrust has his trademark VTOL ducted fans as well as rear stabilizers.
Classics
- Deluxe(2006)
- The brand-new Seeker mold had its head retooled to look more show accurate as a Conehead. Ramjet was released in theClassicstoyline while Thrust and Dirge were exclusive toys featured inBotCon 2007.Ramjet features new wing pieces resembling his original toy as well as bulkier missiles than the originalStarscreamtoy. Thrust was retooled to have VTOL fans like his original toy, but Dirge was just redecoed from the Ramjet toy.Gentei! Gentei!Dirge and Thrust received entirely new wing molds which would later be reused in theGenerationstoyline.
| Classicsmold:Seeker | ||
|---|---|---|
Henkei! Henkei!Starscream Ghost Version | ||
Masterpiece
- A larger-scaled update of theoriginal seeker mold.Originally issued asStarscreamin 2005, then extensively retooled and redecoed in 2016 as Ramjet, Thrust, and Dirge, each with uniquely tooled wing and tailfin pieces. Unfortunately, all three suffer from varying cases of joint looseness due to the age and frequent reuse of the original mold.
| Masterpiecemold:Seeker (MP-11) | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Version 1:
Other versions: | ||
|
Hironori Kobayashi&Shogo Hasui | ||
Cyberverse
- Ramjet(Scout Class,2019)
- Action Attack:"Cranium Crush"
- CyberverseScout Class Ramjet is a Legends-sized toy that transforms from a robot to
a jet with a robot chest and head for a front halfa "transformational" mode in five easy steps. His "Cranium Crush" Action Attack gimmick causes his head and chest to spin and pop out of jet mode when triggered. Unlike manyCyberverseScout Class figures, Ramjet can basically assume a full vehicle mode in spite of the oddly-shaped cockpit.
- Ramjet(Ultra Class,2021)
- Accessories:Two null rays, two jet thrusters
- Ultra Class Ramjet converts from a 6.75 "robot to his jet mode in 12 steps. In robot mode the figure has a spring-loaded Energon armorgimmick,activated by moving his left shoulder which gives Ramjet a bird-motif helmet. His jet thrusters can detach and peg together to form a double-edged staff.
Generations
- War for Cybertron: Earthrisefeatured the classic Coneheads as retools of the line's Voyager-class Starscream. Unlike theClassicsmold that these toys take design cues from, the Seekers' signature cone heads are faux parts and not formed from the actual nosecones of the jets.Generations Selectsalso featured the first release of Ramjet redecoSandstorm,whileLegacyintroducedCloudcover;similarly based on an unreleasedGeneration 2prototype.All of these figures were released as exclusives, though Dirge later received aretail re-releaseinLegacy.
| Earthrisemold:Starscream | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Version 1:
Version 2:
Other versions:
| ||
Notes
- DuringGeneration 2,a desert-themedredecoof the Ramjet mold was proposed as a new character,Sandstorm.Another mock-up deco variant of the Ramjet moldin sky colorsis also known to exist; this may or may not have been intended as a new character. Possibly, Sandstorm and "cloud camo Ramjet" would have been coneheads as well had they been released circa 1995. Eventually, Sandstorm and "Cloudcover"received toys in the 2020s which confirmed this to be the case.
- In their Generation 1 Italian release, all three coneheads featured names related to birds of prey: Thrust is Rapax, an African eagle; Dirge is Sparviero, a sparrowhawk; Ramjet is Nibbio, a kite.
- Instead of the traditional conical helmets, the coneheads seen inBumblebeehave a triangular crest behind their heads, giving the impression of the classic conehead silhouette.
- InCyberverse,RamjetandDirgeare coneheads, butThrustisnot.Story editorRandolph Heardhinted that it would be significant in a future plotline,[1]but this did not come to fruition. Meanwhile, theCyberverseincarnation ofAfterburneris a Conehead.
References
- ↑"@FL_Ranger Not yet" —RandolphHeard, Twitter, 2018/10/21
