Hydra (BW)

Hydra is aPredaconfrom theBeast Wars Neoportion of theGeneration 1continuity family.

We'll have lots of friendly fun!

Hydra(ハイドラーHaidorā) is desperate. Desperate for his leaderMagmatron's attention and commendation. Despite possessing an keen tactical cleverness and being the fastest Predacon alive, he never quite made an impression on Magmatron as his personal rival,Guiledart,did. Indeed, while Guiledart now serves as Magmatron's right-hand man, Hydra's been assigned by his lonesome to the Predacon outpost ofPorcupine,where he passes the time by cracking terrible jokes toOpe,his attendant droid and only company. The same jokes. Over and over and over.^[1]

Hydra doesn't possess any remarkable weaponry, but his Wing Shot does come in handy sometimes.

Fiction

Beast Wars Neocartoon

Voice actor:Ryō Naitō(Japanese)

No, I'm not Lazorbeak. Check out the fangs!

Hydra was the same age asGuiledartand the two immensely disliked each other to the point of often butting heads. One instance had Guiledart trick Hydra with a claim that theMaximalswere nearby and surprise attacked his rival. By eighty years later, the unlucky Hydra became the onlyPredaconassigned the remote fortress planet ofPorcupinethat he built, where he had little to do to pass the time besides repeat lame jokes toOpea thousand times and use parts from ships he attacked to expand the planet. He was tricked again by Guiledart at the planet and, at some point, Guiledart becameMagmatron's second in command, which drove Hydra into deep envy.

Seventy years after Guiledart and Hydra's last quarrel, Hydra and Ope discovered anAngolmoisCapsule hidden within the Porcupine's mechanical workings. This was detected byBig Convoy'sMaximalson theGung Hoand whenMagmatron's Predacons on board theDinosaurfound the Maximals heading in the direction of Porcupine, theEmperor of Destructioncontacted Hydra, and thePteranodonconfirmed the existence of the Angolmois Capsule to his superior. Delighted, Magmatron told Hydra to safeguard it from the Maximals till he arrived.

With theGung Hoin range, Hydra sicced Porcupine's defenses on the Maximals, but some ingenious tactics fromBig Convoyallowed the Maximals to escape, albeit not without some damage to the ship. When theDinosaurarrived, Big Convoy deduced that Porcupine would not use its defense with the Predacon ship in range, and distracted the crew of theDinosaurwhile sending inHeinradandColadato infiltrate the ship. In the meantime, Magmatron sent over Guiledart to retrieve the capsule, which upset Hydra. The teleportation, however, unexpectedly also brought along Colada and Heinrad.

Hydra responded to the newly arrived Guiledart by attacking him, intending to become Magmatron's lieutenant in Guiledart's place. Guiledart tried to convince the distrusting Hydra of the presence of the two Maximals and their theft of the Angolmois Capsule, but his begging fell to deaf ears till Heinrad called him out for his unnecessary suspicion. The Maximals were able to depart the planet with the Angolmois Capsule thanks to Big Convoy's long-term planning and Magmatron attempted to destroy theGung Howith theDinosaur's cannons, but the Maximal ship was able to strafe the blast, which ended up hitting and destroying Porcupine. Hydra and Ope were sent flying off into empty space; the former did have one last joke to share and, while it was new, the latter found it unfunny.Lonely Hydra

Porcupine was rebuilt in an improved form, and Hydra went to work searching for another Angolmois Capsule, contacting Magmatron when he did. Spurred by the threat of theBlentrons' true goal, Magmatron ordered an immediate departure to Porcupine, despite Guiledart's andArchadis's misgivings. Once his leader arrived, Hydra attempted to pile on the brown-nosing for a promotion, but the Emperor was more concerned with defeating the Blentrons and using the capsule as bait for a confrontation. When the Blentrons arrived, Hydra attempted to use the planet's defense against the trio, but everything proved ineffective. When the Blentrons made it to the planet's main chamber, Hydra attempted to put up a fight with the other Predacons, but his Wing Shot made nary a scratch and he was shot down byDrancronand about to be stomped on byElphaorphabefore Magmatron attacked the monstrous Transformer. While he put up more of a fight, Magmatron was seemingly no match for the Blentrons, and a panicking Hydra tried to get them to retreat, which was overruled by the vehement Magmatron. The Maximals, chasing the Blentrons, arrived and the ensuing chaos forced Hydra to send the capsule into space. His decision, made to save Magmatron, was not appreciated by his leader and all Predacons present teleported to theDinosaur.

Hydra's Porcupine was soon destroyed again, this time by the Blentrons.Pursue the Blentrons!

Beast Wars Neocomic

Working withHardhead,Hydra placed a bomb in theAngolmoisCapsule room of theGung Ho,later planning to steal the Angolmois Energy. When the two crashed into the bridge to finish off theMaximals,one of Hardhead's careless gestures with his sword slashed open Hydra's chest. The fatally injured Predacon demanded an apology from Hardhead; in response and to atone for his mistake, the dim-witted Predacon committedseppuku,despite Hydra's protests that there would be nobody left to steal the Angolmois Energy. Bleeding out on the floor, Hydra, with his dying breaths, noted that they were at least able to complete their mission of planting the bomb. His death was ultimately in vain asLongrackandHeinradlater deactivated the bomb.A Battle Fought Alone

2006 IDWBeast Warscontinuity

Hydra was a born underachiever, which was at odds with his attempts to overachieve at everything. Fortunately for him, he didn't let his constant failures get the better of him, and continued to strive so that one day, he might actually accomplish something.Beast Wars Sourcebook #2

Beast Wars: Uprising

Hydra was communications specialist aboard theDinosaur,one of the few Cybertronian ships allowed to patrol the spaceways by theHuman Confederacy.A friendly and likable 'con, Hydra lamented his past assignments manning remote outposts solo, and appreciated the post aboard a ship. He often passed the time playing cards with his fellow enlisted Predacons, remaining a tense distance from the Maximal officers.

TheDinosaurpicked up a garbled Cybertronian distress call from the planetLGC-8803,which Hydra cleaned up for first officerLongrack.Learning of the presence of potentially valuable marooned prisoners on the planet,the Captainordered an excursion to the planet. Meanwhile, Hydra's equipment picked up a second unknown Cybertronian signal, this one emanating from Cybertron. Longrack dismissed it, as any official word from home would come through the Captain or theirBuilderpolitical officer,Synapse,but Hydra andKiller Punchmanaged to convince him to let Hydra spend time cleaning up the signal before they reached LGC-8803.

What Hydra discovered was astonishing. TheGameshad fallen, and the Proto-races had begun an outright rebellion against theBuilder Assembly.Hydra felt the need to share this information with someone, but was discovered by Synapse before he could reach anyone else. The Builder used a magnetic disruptor coil to kill Hydra and destroy his memory tapes all in one strike.Intersectionality

2005 IDW continuity

A member ofOnyx Prime's, Hydra was part of a group that attackedThrottlebotswhile they were marooned on the backwater planet ofRegalis V.The Dead Come Home, Part 1WhenProwl's reinforcements arrived, he battledStardriveand was subsequently blown to bits when she unleashed herDire Wraithpowers.The Dead Come Home, Part 2

Toys

Beast Wars

Wishes he would transform into an actual hydra. That way, the extra heads could keep him company!

• Hydra(Basic,1999)

• ID number:D-33
• Release date:January??, 1999
• Accessories:"Wing Shot"gun
• Known designers:Masakatsu Saito(concept artist)

Part of the first wave ofBeast Wars Neoproducts in Takara'sBeast Warstoyline, Hydra is a slightrepaintofBeast WarsBasic ClassLazorbeak(himself an all-new tooling based on the originalTerrorsaurtoy), adding silver to his face, wings, and legs. He transforms from a sort-ofPteranodonthing to robot via a one-step spring-loadedautotransformationgimmick; activated by lifting up his beast head.

Hydra's "Wing Shot" pistol stores in a little space behind his robot head inbeast modeand can be held in his robot mode hand. Unfortunately, unlike Hydra in the cartoon, his beast mode hands can't hold his weapon.

The Lazorbeak mold was also used to make later runs of Terrorsaur in the UK, as well asDinobotsTerranotron.The original tooling was used to makeFractylandAge of ExtinctionStrafe.

• More information on Hydra at TFU.info

• Backwater Showdown: Rockbuster VS Hydra(VS pack, 1999)

• ID number:VS-33
• Release date:January??, 1999
• Accessories:"Wing Shot" gun

Hydra was also available in the "Backwater Showdown" ( bối thủy の đối quyếthaisui no taiketsu) two-pack withRockbuster,also released in the first wave ofNeotoys.

Both toys are identical to their individual releases.

Notes

• TheBeast Wars: Uprisingincarnation of Hydra is a "virtual redeco" of theCombiner WarsDeluxe ClassTerrorsaurtoy.

References