Hightower (RID)
From Transformers Wiki
| The name or term "Hightower" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Hightower (disambiguation). |
- Hightower is an Autobot originally from the Robots in Disguise continuity family.
Hightower (aka Build Cyclone) is a member of the Build Team, and their best marksman. Oddly, his particular weapon of choice is the rather imprecise flamethrower. He's a bit of a fanboy to Wedge, acting as both a bodyguard and advisor to the team leader.
| “ | Stay alert; danger is everywhere. | ” |
| —Hightower's motto | ||
Contents |
Fiction
Cartoon continuity
2001 Robots in Disguise cartoon
- Voice actor: Joe Ochman (English), Masami Iwasaki (Japanese), Oleg Kutsenko (Russian), Wan-gyeong Seong (Korean), Jorge Ornelas (Latin-American Spanish), Márcio Simões (Brazilian Portuguese)
When the Autobot Brothers encountered the Build Team in an unfinished tunnel, Hightower enthusiastically promoted Wedge's tunnel-building abilities. When Wedge secured the team a chance for combat, he played up Wedge's future as a warrior, and almost got into a fight with Grimlock as a result. Once Wedge had been captured by the Predacons, Hightower wasn't keen on letting Heavy Load turn over the disk with the space bridge plans on, but knew it was the only way to get Wedge back. They subsequently ended up chasing a penguin who had snatched the disk — fortunately, the disk turned out to be a decoy. Wedge's Short Fuse
After the completion of the Arctic link, Hightower followed Wedge off to combat practice, leaving Grimlock to enter the data into the control computer. When the Decepticons subsequently sabotaged the space bridge, Build Team was called to the computer terminal and Hightower quickly found the reprogrammed computer bank. The space tunnel now fixed, Build Team combined into Landfill to fight off Megatron and Scourge from the north energy research facility. Landfill
After Sky-Byte and the Predacons attacked the CGA Tower, Wedge helped to hold it up but the rest of the Build Team were forced to stay back. They defended the tower against Scourge's attack and formed Landfill in order to dig a new foundation for the tower, allowing the safe release of the hostages. Sky-Byte Saves the Day With all repairs and maintenance finally complete, Heavy Load and the Build Team helped test the space bridge. Lessons of the Past
On discovering that the Commandos had been attacking construction equipment, the Build Team decided to face the Decepticons alone, and Hightower sabotaged the space bridge using the same technique as the Decepticons a few episode before, resulting in the other Autobots being sent to random locations. The Build Team themselves confronted the Commandos but were overwhelmed by the fighting prowess of their opponents. Build Team regrouped and formed Landfill, eventually narrowly defeating Ruination. Afterward they enjoyed a soothing oil bath with Team Bullet Train. A Test of Metal
Sent to dig at a site beneath Metro City where they'd been before, the Build Team began to hear strange noises, and Hightower nervously suggested they stop digging. Soon they experienced hallucinations as they had the last time and Hightower quickly succumbed. Eventually they broke through to a cavern containing Fortress Maximus and formed Landfill to fight the Decepticons who then arrived. Fortress Maximus Hightower and the rest of Build Team subsequently hid Fortress Maximus in a huge building in the middle of the city. Koji Gets His Wish
With Doctor Onishi recovered, the Build Team and Autobot Brothers began a race to locate the last five O-Parts. Hightower hoisted up Wedge on his crane to recover the third O-Part which unfortunately ended up in the hands of the Autobot Brothers anyway. When Wedge was furious at Side Burn for taking the O-Part, Hightower reminded him it was only a game. A Friendly Contest
The Build Team accompanied the Autobot Brothers on a mission to find Cerebros beneath an ancient temple. This was fortunate, as the Decepticons caved the temple in on top of them, and the Build Team were able to dig the Autobots out. They subsequently helped to guard Fortress Maximus. To no one's surprise, the Decepticons attacked, and Build Team formed Landfill to help see them off. Maximus Emerges
When Scourge made a second attempt to control Maximus in the Sahara desert, the Build Team and Team Bullet Train picked up a large number of children and took them to the site via the global space bridge. There the children were able to command Maximus to stop. The Human Element
When the Decepticons launched an attack on the Autobot base, the Build Team was called to a predetermined location with the rest of the Autobots to spring a trap on their foe. When the Megastar joined the fight, they formed Landfill, who was promptly blown apart by the battle station's firepower. Surprise Attack!
After the defeat of the Megastar, Landfill was formed again to fight the Decepticons while Omega Prime engaged in combat with Galvatron. Galvatron unleashed his cyber-bats, causing Prime to call a retreat, and the Autobots found themselves trapped in a space bridge tunnel rapidly filling with molten lava. Although they escaped, Galvatron soon had them at his mercy again. Galvatron's Revenge
As Galvatron attempted to attack Optimus Prime, Landfill and the other Autobots blocked his attack and were paralysed by Galvatron's power. They remained in this state until Omega Prime was able to defeat Galvatron in the Earth's core. Afterward, just for fun, the Build Team did some more work on the space bridge. The Final Battle
Legends comic
The Dimensional Patrol was brought to the Legends World by Skids and Sky-Byte to defend it against the attack of Majin Zarak and the Zamojin. Legends World in Imminent Danger! Part One
Universe comic
In Viron 903.0 Beta, Hightower and his teammates joined the Dimensional Patrol. Ask Vector Prime, 13 September 2015 Landfill was abducted by Unicron to become one of the latest combatants inside the Cauldron. Before his inter-dimensional trek could be completed, however, Rhinox from the Children of Primus attempted to intercept the dimensional transition before Unicron claimed his latest victims. Pulled in two directions, Landfill and his comrades Side Burn and Prowl were instead deposited on a frozen planetoid in space. A rescue team of Children of Primus deployed to the planetoid, but so did a team of Minions of Unicron. Landfill worked together with the rescue team, a group of Autobots accidentally pulled in from the past by Rhinox's device, and his fellow victims to successfully defeat the Minions. Afterwards, the temporally-displaced Autobots were sent back to their proper spacetime Voice Actor Drama while Landfill, Prowl, and Side Burn were sent back to their home reality without ever participating in the Universe War. Ask Vector Prime, 13 September 2015
Shell Game continuity
In Viron 704.31 Epsilon, Build Cyclone was robo-smashed by Megazarak into Hightower. Ask Vector Prime, 30 July 2015
Beast Wars: Uprising
Hightower became a member of the Constructicons after the Armistice, although he retained his Autobot allegiance. Hot Rod helped reform the team, creating a 1/3 Autobot roster and convincing the Constructicons to undergo Micromaster downsizing, losing social hierarchy among the Builders but retaining their mobility in the energon-depleted era. As a lingering bit of factionalism, Hot Rod made Hightower leader of the new Constructicons, an Autobot in command of a primarily Decepticon unit. Micro-Aggressions Cultural Appropriation
During the Grand Uprising, Hightower and the Constructicons served the Builders against the Resistance. They ran a prisoner transport through Proximax to Iacon when they were attacked by Resistance fighters. The prisoner, Snapper, escaped, but Hightower's team found themselves in a prolonged battle with the Resistance which lasted over a day. They retreated to the Sights & Sounds casino for defense. Meanwhile, one of their members—Buckethead—had formed an alliance with Snapper and a motley crew of other bots to deal with the alien threat of the Antares Eight. Buckethead and Rampage of the Resistance eventually reached both sides and got them to join forces against the Renegade invaders.
At the trans-hyperwave caster the Renegades seized, Hightower and the Constructicons joined Buckethead's "Ex-Bots" in attacking the invaders. The Constructicons formed Devastator, fighting the Monster Renegade combiner Monsterous. After the fight, all Cybertronians retired to Sights & Sounds for a summit. The Ex-Bots ultimately convinced Hightower and the Constructicons to leave the Builders and act as part of an independent faction to protect the innocents of Proximax and defend the city from the horrors of war. Cultural Appropriation
Hightower soon stepped down as leader of the team, as Buckethead had grown into the role during her time in Proximax. The Constructicons and the Ex-Bots prevented Tarantulas from using a Robo-Smasher to brainwash all the people of Proximax. They also recovered the Autobot-turned-Maximal Grimlock from his control. As the Vehicon Apocalypse began, the Ex-Bots chose to get involved with the other armies of the proto-races. Hightower and the Constructicons salvaged a lobotomized Sweep and retrofitted and detailed it as the team's new Ex-Jet.
On the march to Nova Cronum, the Constructicons formed Devastator to wade through the hordes of Vehicons. At the Grand Mal itself, Devastator joined forces with the Maximal combiner Magnaboss. Their combined assault weakened the Grand Mal's force field enough for Lord Imperious Delirious to take note of them, and fire the massive optic ray at the combiners. Devastator pushed Magnaboss out of the way. Magnaboss lost an arm, a fifth of his gestalt mind, but Devastator suffered worse. Half his components were damaged beyond repair, and Hightower was among the casualties. Derailment
2005 IDW continuity
The Functionist Universe
Hightower and his three teammates stood in a crowd to watch as Twelve-of-Twelve led a procession of captured AVL activists. Anomie
Toys
Robots in Disguise (2001)
- Build Cyclone (2000) / Hightower (Deluxe Class, 2001)
- Takara release date: August ?? 2000
- Takara ID number: C-021
- Accessories: "Crane Magnum" pistol, "Crane Cannon"
- Known designers: Hisashi Yuki (TakaraTomy), Masakatsu Saito (concept artist)
- Part of the "Build Team", Hightower transforms into a red crane truck of undetermined model resembling a Kato or Tadano rough terrain crane. His crane-boom detaches to form a massive "Crane Cannon" with flip-out barrel. He also has a small hand-held pistol stored in his boom-operator's compartment. The Takara version's instructions depict a third "gimmick mode" where the cannon is simply flipped forward in vehicle mode, and the cabin is flipped up to reveal the handgun.
- He can also form either leg or both arms to the team's combined Landfill mode; the three limb-bots of the team are designed to be able to swap between which limb they form without detaching from the combined mode. However, his nominal placement is as the left leg, with his Crane Cannon in Landfill's left claw.
- He was first released in the sixth wave of Takara's Car Robots toyline, alongside his fellow Build Team members, as "Build Cyclone". The later Hasbro Robots in Disguise "Hightower" release adds numerous paint applications to him, the most obvious being an Autobot sigil on his cabin, but he also gains hazard stripes on his front bumper and extra silver detailing on his vehicle-mode sides.
- Build King (Multi-pack, 2000)
- Takara release date: August ?? 2000
- ID number: C-022
- Accessories: "Crane Magnum" pistol, "Crane Cannon"
- In Japan, the entire Build Team was also released as a complete box set of four toys: Build Boy, Build Cyclone, Build Hurricane, and Build Typhoon. Each toy is identical to their individual (Takara) releases.
- Sonokong also released this gift set in Korean markets with no differences other than the packaging.
- Landfill (Multi-pack, 2003)
- Release date: November 25 2003
- Accessories: "Crane Magnum" pistol, "Crane Cannon"
- A mainly-yellow redeco of the entire Build Team was released as a Walmart exclusive multi-pack on "Black Friday", the day after Thanksgiving, the most hellishly-overcrowded shopping day of the year. The set cost considerably less than four individual deluxes.
Universe (2003)
- Hightower (Micromaster, 2004)
- Accessories: Left & right Devastator fists
- A redeco of Operation Combination Micromaster Iron Lift, Universe Hightower transforms into a crane truck. He can form the left arm to any similar-construction Micromaster combiner robot, but his nominal position is as the arm of Constructicon Devastator. (He can be used as a right arm too, but since only the right fist to the Sixbuilder mold-set will work with him, he'd be backwards.)
- A KB Toys exclusive, he and the other Micromaster Constructicons were also ultimately available from Sears during Christmastime, and Kmart's online store.
- The toy's connector socket is approximately 5 mm wide, making Hightower compatible with Powerlinx plugs.
- This mold was also used to make Micromaster Gren.
Notes
Foreign names
- Japanese: Build Cyclone (ビルドサイクロン Birudo Saikuron)
- Korean: Build Clone (빌드클론 Bildeu Keullon)
