Battle Unicorn

Battle Unicorn is a Maximal from the Beast Machines portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.

Unicorn and Unicron.

Certain Vehicon Generals doubt the existence of a mysterious technorganic unicorn which doesn't show up on radar, moves without sound, appears and disappears like magic, and leaves only scrambled, indecipherable sensor logs in his wake. Those that have fought Battle Unicorn, however, quickly learn that his fanciful alternate mode and prosaic designation disguise a powerful warrior, as intelligent and stealthy as he is skilled with his battle axe should a combatant actually manage to engage him. His stealth armor, sound dampers, sensor-scrambling hoof-stomps, and unique teleportation abilities combine to make this a rare occurrence, and make Battle Unicorn an excellent scout.

Fiction

Lil Formers

Battle Unicorn auditioned to join the cast of Beast Machines. Unfortunately, he mistook a script featuring Unicron for the one he was supposed to read, and was denied a spot on the show after he wound up raving about devouring planets. Lil Formers

3H comics

Primal interrupted their intense zoning regulations debate.

One week after the Great Transformation, as Cheetor fought the invading Quintesson forces, he was surrounded by brigades of Battle Unicorns and their Sharkticon opponents. Later, as Nightscream joined a handful of other Maximals in their descent through Cybertron's layers to stop the Predacon gangster Cryotek, he wondered why they didn't bring a "phalanx of Battle Unicorns." Wreckers: Finale Part II

An apparently politically ambitious Battle Unicorn was a member of the Maximal High Council in the time after Megatron's defeat and Cybertron's technorganic reformatting. He, like the rest of the council, was apparently unmoved by Optimus Primal's return and prophecies of Unicron-borne doom. Homecoming

When the Universe War began in earnest, Optimus Primal was successful in warding off most invading forces and keeping both the High Council and civilization in general undisturbed. This all changed suddenly and dramatically with "the Culling," which began when Unicron's hordes attacked Cybertron en masse. The Maximal High Council (and its Battle Unicorn) were among the first to fall as the general population was harvested for their sparks. Beast Wars 10th Anniversary Optimus Primal's bio

Wings Universe

Battle Unicorn was on techno-organic Cybertron in the year 2984. He and Rook noticed that Unicron's head acted up overhead, but nothing came of it. Hoist the Flag

Beast Wars: Uprising

Battle Unicorn was runner-up to the retro-rodeo championship. Broken Windshields

My Little Pony/Transformers

After a space bridge accident left many Transformers stuck in the magical land of Equestria, Battle Unicorn took part in a friendly race to find the fastest among them. Unfortunately, it was interrupted by Decepticons, and Battle Unicorn was eventually beaten by Windblade and Rainbow Dash. The Flyin' Fox Trot

Toys

Beast Machines

THERE ON THE BATTLEFIELD HE STANDS, DOWN THE BATTLEFIELD HE'S LOST, AND ON THE BATTLEFIELD IT EEHEEEEEEEEEEE

• Battle Unicorn (Basic Class, 2001)

• Accessories: Battle-axe

Part of the vanishingly short-lived-at-retail seventh wave of Beast Machines Basics (and the only new toy in said wave), Battle Unicorn transforms into a technorganic unicorn. The dial containing his spark crystal on the beast mode's left shoulder activates an "attack" gimmick: rotating it forward makes his head bow forward for horn-stabby action, with a tension-spring making it snap back when released. (This feature is blocked in robot mode.)

His mane and tail are a multi-part assembly that runs through his beast-mode back, becoming a massive battle-axe in robot mode. It is possible to remove the tail portion of the axe, with the connection joint big enough to fit in Battle Unicorn's hand. However, the connection is very tight and is seemingly not actually meant to come apart, plus the instructions for either iteration of the mold make no mention of this. (His later redeco's stock imagery shows the axe split this way, but again, this does not appear to be an intentional design choice.) The connection does allow the tail to rotate freely, giving you a few more options for dynamic battle poses.

Released at the very end of the Beast Machines line, Battle Unicorn had an exceptionally short "shelf life", leading to many fans never seeing him on the shelf at all. However, Hasbro worked out a deal with online toy store BigBadToyStore, selling them solid cases of the figure (which managed to fill their warehouse for a good eight years).

This mold was later redecoed to make Magna Stampede.

• More information on Battle Unicorn at TFU.info

Notes

Always, I want to be with you, and make believe with you, and live in harmony, harmony, oh love...

• At the BotCon 2014 retrospective panel it was revealed that a redeco of Battle Unicorn based on the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic character Twilight Sparkle, aptly named "Twilight Sparkle Prime", was among the proposed but unused concepts.^[1][2]
• In the original script to the unreleased Wreckers issue #4, "Battle Unicorn" was not an individual, but the name of a legion of warriors with the same body form. They were considered the best of the best of the post-Beast Machines Cybertronian army: polished, epic, and intimidating. They let the less-organized and less-impressive rabble ride into battle on their backs.

References