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Targetmaster-rollcall

Targetmasters are a subset of Transformers binary-bonded to smaller partners, who transform into their weapons. The partner is often an organic life-form that has been bio-engineered to be partly mechanical, or wears a suit of armour that transforms around them to become the weapon.

The Targetmasters benefit from being able to take two minds into battle. A Targetmaster possesses a living weapon that is capable of making its own tactical decisions and target priorities. The advantage is similar to that of having a dedicated gunner aboard an aircraft or tank.

The Targetmaster process is often seen to follow shortly after development of the Headmaster process. The earliest known Targetmasters were among the Autobots and Decepticons involved in the war on Nebulos, and were paired with a bio-engineered Nebulan humanoid which wore a transforming exo-suit. Later Targetmasters included virtually any Transformer specifically partnered with another being that becomes their weapon, not limited to Nebulans or organics. The term has been applied to the Seacon team and several Action Master pairings.

Fiction

Marvel Comics

The first Targetmasters were a group of six Autobots under the command of Fortress Maximus. Having traveled to the planet Nebulos in search of peace, this group surrendered their weapons to the natives to prove their peaceful intentions. Some time later, Lord Zarak and his Decepticon Headmaster partner Scorponok had discredited the Autobots, turned public opinion against them, and driven them into retreat. A group of six Nebulan dissidents undertook a great risk to join the Autobots, allowing themselves to be bio-engineered into replacement weapons for the six unarmed Autobots. Fugitives from the government, the Autobot Targetmasters adopted the code names Haywire, Peacemaker, Pinpointer, Recoil, Sparks, and Spoilsport.

The Autobot Targetmasters' first trial by combat came at the Nursery, a horticultural research facility that was under threat by Zarak's Decepticons. The newly minted Targetmasters engaged Scorponok and the Terrorcons in a battle for the Nursery, but retreated as the facility was being destroyed by the battle, regardless of who was winning.

Vorath was soon able to duplicate the Autobots' experiment, creating a group of five Decepticon Targetmasters: Blowpipe, Caliburst, Fracas, Aimless, and Nightstick, though they weren't quite a match for the Autobot Headmasters. All of the Targetmasters left Nebulos soon after, as the Autobots retreated to spare Nebulos further warfare, and the Decepticons pursued.

G1 cartoon

In this continuity, the Targetmaster process was developed by Zarak and the council of the Hive after they captured Scourge and his Decepticon taskforce. Having already witnessed the effectiveness of the Autobot Headmasters, the Hive sought to duplicate the process and used their technopathy to threaten the Decepticons with disassembly if they did not cooperate. Cyclonus volunteered the Decepticons with beast-modes to undergo Headmaster modification while he and the remaining members of the group offered up their weapons. Zarak agreed to the bargain and the modifications began in earnest. Once the Hive members bonded with the Decepticons, they were elated to have fully-functioning bodies again, and far more powerful than they had ever been originally.

Paired with the Hive, the modified Decepticons attacked the Autobots and the Nebulon rebels, stealing back the Key to the Plasma Energy Chamber. During the battle, Brainstorm and Arcana ran a scan of Nightstick's body, uncovering the secret behind the modifications to the Decepticon weapons. Though the Decepticons got away with the Key, the Autobots and their Nebulon allies now had the means to modify their own weapons as their enemies had done. They would later put these enhancements to the test in yet another battle against the Hive and Decepticons, though with the emergence of Scorponok, the villains stopped the Autobots from reclaiming the Key and travelled to Cybertron. The Autobots and Gort's resistance would follow in Optimus Prime's shuttle and engage in the ultimate battle for the sake of the galaxy, which would end with the Decepticons' defeat and the second coming of Cybertron's golden age.

Dreamwave Comics

The Targetmaster process was developed eons ago on Cybertron, as a process to forge a warrior and his weapon into a cohesive fighting team. The two are linked on a mental and physical level, allowing them to draw energy from each other and multitask with extreme efficiency. Targetmaster weapons cannot be wielded by another being without their consent unless they are somehow incapacitated in their weapon configuration. Severe injury or death of one partner can have a profound physical and emotional impact on the other.

The Targetmaster process was further expanded upon on the planet Nebulon. This would allow organic humanoids, not just mechanoids, to function as weapons when adorned with removable armour. The strength and endurance of these modified beings were greatly enhanced, though their appearance does not change.

Known Targetmasters

Autobots

Decepticons