Iguanus (BW)

Iguanus is a Predacon from the Beast Era portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.

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

Iguanus is steadfastly loyal to the Predacon cause and sees himself as something of a "freedom fighter", fighting an uphill battle against Maximal oppression. 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 combating Optimus 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 the Beast Wars, Tarantulas sought the power of the Matrix to destroy the Vok. Tarantulas recruited a rebuilt Ravage to help him on this mission, while Iguanus and Razorclaw were first seen gestating in bubbly chambers within Tarantulas's lair. Primeval Dawn Part 1 But the Vok had created a team of their own Transformers, led by Primal Prime, to counter Tarantulas's efforts, so Ravage led Iguanus and Razorclaw into battle against them, where they also met up with the newborn protoform, Spittor. While Razorclaw and Iguanus took on Ramulus, Tarantulas used his new Vok-like powers to defeat Primal Prime and rip the Matrix itself from his body. Primeval Dawn Part 2 With 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 the Ark. Primeval Dawn Part 3

Dreamwave Generation One continuity

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 IDW Beast Wars continuity

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

Magmatron recruited Iguanus, along with Transquito, Spittor, Drill Bit, Manterror, and Razorbeast. Magmatron's plan was to use the abandoned stasis pods on prehistoric Earth to build an army and take over Cybertron. Upon arrival, Magmatron sent Iguanus and the others to watch over the stasis pods as they were activated. Iguanus witnessed the birth of Retrax.

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'S for stealing my transformation scheme, ya JERK!

Later, Iguanus located a blank protoform into which Ravage's spark would be inserted. He accompanied Magmatron and Drill Bit to capture Megatron and send him back to Cybertron (to appease the Tripredacus Council). They succeeded in the capture, but failed to prepare the transwarp shunt. Grimlock intervened and ripped Iguanus apart. The Gathering #3 The 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 #1 The Ascending #2

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

Iguanus upgraded into a Transmetal 2 by purposely using the Transmetal driver on himself. Beast Wars Sourcebook

2005 IDW continuity

Iguanus was among Onyx Prime's Maximals and watched on as his master confronted Optimus Prime about his machinations. The First Who Was Named He was soon sent out of Nemesis under Liege Maximo's command to root out the fallen Metrotitan'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 of Beast Wars Basics, Iguanus is a retool of the basic crocodile Megatron mold,^[2] transforming from a Gila monster^[3] with a frill (?!) to robot mode with a one-step spring-loaded autotransformation. His removable beast mode tail hides a non-firing blaster cannon that can be used as a hand weapon; it can in theory be 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. From Beast Machines.

• Iguanus (Deluxe Transmetal 2, 1999)

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

One of the few non-show Beast Wars characters 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 a Beast Machines Maximal spark crystal instead of the Beast Wars Predacons one. Just how this 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 to Toys"R"Us. This mold was later used to make Universe Reptilion.

• More information on Transmetal 2 Iguanus at TFU.info

Vintage Beast Wars

• Iguanus (Reissue, 2023)

• Accessories: Tail-cannon

In celebration of the 25th anniversary of Beast Wars, the original 1996 Basic Class Iguanus was reissued under the Vintage Beast Wars lineup, 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 earlier Vintage waves.

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 on January 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 the Beast Wars card 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 a McDonald'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 of Beast Wars packaging.

Foreign names

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

References