Iguanus (BW)

Iguanus is aPredaconfrom theBeast Eraportion of theGeneration 1continuity family.

This hand of mine glows with an awesome power! Its burning grip tells me that I am not an iguana.

Iguanusis steadfastly loyal to the Predacon cause and sees himself as something of a "freedom fighter", fighting an uphill battle againstMaximaloppression. An able soldier and lieutenant, his specialty is combat sabotage. Iguanus uses this cunning skill to thwart his enemies' advances. He's been known to say cool things like, "The shortest path between two Maximal points is a heat-seeking missile." Iguanus appreciates the destruction his job allows him to cause, and carries a massive amount of firepower to rain down devastation on all Maximals who stand in his way.^[1]

Fiction

Toy bios

Iguanus was one of the Predacons combatingOptimus Primal's Maximals. If Optimus ever attempted to install an infrared detection dish near a Predacon outpost, he was in for a nasty surprise; Iguanus was capable of altering such a device to self-destruct when fired.Iguanus's toy bio

3H comics

Iguanas can't spit rockets, and neither can I!

In the wake of theBeast Wars,Tarantulassought the power of theMatrixto destroy theVok.Tarantulas recruited a rebuiltRavageto help him on this mission, while Iguanus andRazorclawwere first seen gestating in bubbly chambers withinTarantulas's lair.Primeval Dawn Part 1But the Vok had created a team of their own Transformers, led byPrimal Prime,to counter Tarantulas's efforts, so Ravage led Iguanus and Razorclaw into battle against them, where they also met up with the newbornprotoform,Spittor.While Razorclaw and Iguanus took onRamulus,Tarantulas used his new Vok-like powers to defeat Primal Prime and rip the Matrix itself from his body.Primeval Dawn Part 2With the Matrix in hand, Tarantulas returned with his troops to his lair. Here Tarantulas oversaw Iguanus and the others construct a transwarp portal so that Tarantulas could bring his prize to his master,Unicron.Once the portal was finished, Tarantulas promised the Predacons that they could destroy the Maximals, and so Iguanus and the others later followed Ravage in an attack on theArk.Primeval Dawn Part 3

DreamwaveGeneration Onecontinuity

Iguanus was brought to prehistoric Earth by Magmatron in order to raise an army out of the stasis pods left there after the departure of Optimus Primal's team. He was sent out into the field, and witnessed Retrax emerge from his pod as all protoforms were brought online.Shell Game #1

2006 IDWBeast Warscontinuity

"Frillneckedlizardus" doesn't have the same "oomph".

Magmatronrecruited Iguanus, along withTransquito,Spittor,Drill Bit,Manterror,andRazorbeast.Magmatron's plan was to use the abandonedstasis podson prehistoricEarthto build an army and take overCybertron.Upon arrival, Magmatron sent Iguanus and the others to watch over the stasis pods as they were activated. Iguanus witnessed the birth ofRetrax.

Razorbeast was revealed as a Maximal spy when Maximals started coming out of the pods. Iguanus was put in charge of organizing hunting parties.The Gathering #1

THAT'Sfor stealing my transformation scheme, ya JERK!

Later, Iguanus located ablankprotoforminto whichRavage's spark would be inserted. He accompanied Magmatron and Drill Bit to captureMegatronand send him back to Cybertron (to appease theTripredacus Council). They succeeded in the capture, but failed to prepare the transwarp shunt.Grimlockintervened and ripped Iguanus apart.The Gathering #3The Gathering #4

Later, Iguanus was part of Ravage's assault on the Maximal base, and was relishing having his enemies on the defensive when Grimlock arrived. Iguanus tried to order an attack on the big Maximal, but Grimlock promptly tossed him around with the rest of the Predacon ground troops.The Ascending #1The Ascending #2

Iguanus recovered and later observed asRartoratawas brought down by a combined Maximal-Predacon assault.The Ascending #3

Iguanus upgraded into aTransmetal 2by purposely using theTransmetal driveron himself.Beast Wars Sourcebook

2005 IDW continuity

Iguanus was amongOnyx Prime's Maximals and watched on as his master confrontedOptimus Primeabout his machinations.The First Who Was NamedHe was soon sent out ofNemesisunderLiege Maximo's command to root out the fallenMetrotitan's companions.The Hallowing

Toys

Beast Wars

Note: Not Megatron. Or an iguana.

• Iguanus(Basic Class, 1996)

• Accessories:Tail-cannon
• Known designers:Takio Ejima(TakaraTomy),Masakatsu Saito(concept artist)

Part of the first wave ofBeast WarsBasics, Iguanus is aretoolof the basiccrocodile Megatronmold,^[2]transforming from a Gila monster^[3]with a frill (?!) torobot modewith a one-step spring-loadedautotransformation.His removablebeast modetail hides a non-firing blaster cannon that can be used as a hand weapon; it can intheorybe left attached in robot mode, but the frill gets in the way of him using it in this manner as an overhead cannon as Megatron can.

The initial releases of Iguanus and the other wave-1 Basics and Deluxes came on a "rocky bubble" card. This quickly changed to the "smooth bubble" style, with all toys re-released in this style of packaging. As such, the rocky packaging is rarer and goes for more on the secondary market.

In Japan, Iguanus was initially promoted in early catalogs as "Igunar", but the toy ended up only being available as an import released with Takara-applied stickers to the packaging, first as the prize of a "speed lottery" in 1997 and later as part of a 1998 mail order catalog theater-goers could buy from. Both releases disregarded the "Igunar" name and went with a straight transliteration of "Iguanus" instead.

• More information on Iguanus at TFU.info

Still not an iguana. Or Megatron. But possibly a Maximal. FromBeast Machines.

• Iguanus(DeluxeTransmetal 2,1999)

• Accessories:Missile
• Known designers:Aaron Archer(Hasbro),Yuichiro Hira(TakaraTomy),Masakatsu Saito(concept artist)

One of the few non-showBeast Warscharacters to get a second new mold, Iguanus transforms into a bio-mechanical frill-necked lizard. His beast mode head hides a spring-loaded missile launcher that also pops up his frill-plates when activated. The missile is held in his hands in robot mode like a club, for once Iguanus is transformed, his missile launcher is inaccessible. His spark crystal is located in his right pectoral in robot mode, concealed under a flip-up panel. His beast mode frill is the only chromed feature of the toy, which appears to be more resistant to flaking than most of the Transmetal 2 line.

Bizarrely, some Iguanus figures have been misassembled, as they feature aBeast MachinesMaximalspark crystal instead of the Beast Wars Predacons one. Justhowthis happened is uncertain.

Like the other Transmetal 2 Deluxes which did not appear in the cartoon, Iguanus was not released in Asian markets. This toy was sold in Japan as an "import" with a Japanese sticker exclusive toToys "R" Us.This mold was later used to makeUniverseReptilion.

• More information on Transmetal 2 Iguanus at TFU.info

Vintage Beast Wars

• Iguanus(Reissue,2023)

• Accessories:Tail-cannon

In celebration of the 25th anniversary ofBeast Wars,the original 1996 Basic Class Iguanus was reissued under theVintage Beast Warslineup, now reclassified as a Deluxe Class and priced as such. Iguanus's yellow spot deco is recreated for this reissue, meaning it's similar but not identical to the original. Iguanus is packaged on a card with a round bubble as opposed to the rocky style seen on earlierVintagewaves.

Though scheduled for release in the first quarter of 2023, Iguanus was spotted in Singapore in late November 2022. Hasbro Pulse put Iguanus up for order onJanuary 10,2023,and they immediately began shipping him. Overstock of the figures, sometimes in the dozens, later showed up at closeout stores like Ollie's for $9.99.

Merchandise

Beast Wars Transformers Mutating Card Game

• Beast Wars Transformers Mutating Card Game(1997)

Iguanus was one of the 24 beast warriors to receive a battle card representation for theBeast Warscard game.

Notes

• Iguanus's seemingly misapplied name is a result of the toy being conceived as a frilled iguana (?!) before it was changed into a frilled Gila monster (?!).^[4]
• At one point, Hasbro planned aMcDonald's"Creature Auto Roller" toy of Iguanus.^[5]
• Iguanus's name was misspelled as "Iguanas" on the toy listings section advertising his Transmetal 2 toy ofBeast Warspackaging.

Foreign names

• Japanese:Igunar(イグナーIgunā),Iguanus(イグアナスIguanasu)

References