Landmine (G1)
From Transformers Wiki
| This article is about the Hasbro Pretender. For his Japanese counterpart from Super-God Masterforce, see Lander. For a list of other meanings, see Landmine (disambiguation). |
- Landmine is an Autobot Pretender from the Generation 1 continuity family.
Landmine prefers to believe his life is one big Indiana Jones movie. His job takes him into uncharted and dangerous territory, usually after some important artifact, and he's always willing to leap into these situations with sword or blaster in-hand. Unfortunately, the reality is his job isn't quite that glamorous. As an asteroid miner, he's usually after rare minerals his team needs to survive, not damsels in distress or powerful talismans. And while he is brash and hot-headed, unlike some other brash hotheads, he's very concerned about making sure he gets his job done right the first time around. Landmine doesn't brook mistakes, especially not his own. He rarely leaves his extremely durable shell, if he can help it. At the end of the day, he's just a vulnerable guy digging for rocks.
To fill the void, Landmine will keep rewatching those Indiana Jones films. Even the fourth one.
Contents |
Fiction
The Transformers cartoon
Landmine was scheduled to undergo minor retooling. Optimus Prime promised he would be there and left Tommy Kennedy in the middle of a story he was telling. Season 5: The Rebirth, Part 1
Marvel Comics continuity
Marvel The Transformers comics
Landmine claims at one point to have faced off against 50 Sharkticons. Recipe for Disaster!
A member of Fortress Maximus's crew aboard the Steelhaven, Landmine volunteered for the synthoplasmic conversion process Optimus Prime had stolen from Scorponok, transforming him into an Autobot Pretender. With Optimus Prime coordinating the Pretenders' first battle with the Decepticons, Landmine and his teammates easily overwhelmed the opposing force. Pretender to the Throne!
Landmine was with Fortress Maximus when the Steelhaven faction first met Grimlock's group of Autobots, and Fortress Maximus introduced Landmine to Grimlock as Pretender Group Leader. Grimlock was less than impressed with the new arrivals, and wound up challenging Maximus to a duel in order to maintain control of the Autobot forces. Blaster was ultimately the one who battled the Dinobot on Earth's moon for leadership supremacy. The proceedings were interrupted by a Decepticon attack, and the duelists were forced to put their differences aside to lead their troops together against the attackers. Totaled!
After a large number of Autobot troops were critically damaged battling Starscream, Optimus Prime sent Landmine and Cloudburst to buy medical supplies. They were to go to Grand Central Space Station and purchase 500 million microchips, necessary components for rebuilding their fallen comrades. The two Pretenders were chosen for the mission due to their outer human shells, as robots weren't welcome at Grand Central.
Canvassing the area at the Black Hole Bar and Grill, Landmine got them involved in a bar fight trying to defend a Chromite from some angry robophobic patrons. They were beaten, however, and the Chromite was tossed out the airlock. After Cloudburst smoothed things over with the bartender, J'oh, they left to find a reliable source of microchips. They supposedly found this through two brokers (the disguised Throttle and Hi-Test). The deal seemed sound, but a human named Berko mentioned how his Autobot friend Sky Lynx suddenly went missing after trying to deal with those the two brokers.
With the idea of saving a potentially endangered fellow Autobot in mind, Landmine insisted on bypassing the middlemen and meeting the sellers directly. Cloudburst was extremely reluctant, but not to worry — Landmine had a plan. Remote-guiding his outer shell into the meeting, Landmine and Cloudburst met with the hungry Mecannibals. The disguised Autobots arranged to pay for 500 million microchips. However, they also learned that the Mecannibals were about to eat Sky Lynx. Landmine's inner robot burst in at that moment, assaulting the Mecannibals and freeing Sky Lynx. He then set off a flash of light to hide the moment when his robot mode entered his shell to hide.
Having successfully acquired their goods and freed a fellow Autobot in the process, Landmine and Cloudburst were sitting pretty. The only remaining glitch was how the hiding Sky Lynx would be able to return to Grand Central to retrieve his friend Berko without being caught. Fortunately, Landmine once more had a plan. A much less successful plan. He grabbed Berko by the collar and tossed him into an alleyway so that he and Cloudburst could reveal themselves as Autobots in privacy. It wasn't total privacy, though — the Mecannibals' brokers saw this revelation, and rushed off to inform J'oh of this fact. When the Autobots headed to the Black Hole Bar and Grill to settle Berko's tab, they were grabbed by the bar's patrons and delivered to the Nebulans, who in turn brought them to the Mecannibals. Guess Who the Mecannibals Are Having for Dinner?
Things weren't looking too well for the Pretenders until Cloudburst hit upon the idea to negotiate their release from the Mecannibals, in exchange of sharing a recipe. As they were, he convinced Master Mouth, the Autobots would only make for a mediocre snack, but with the right spices they could make for a gourmet meal! The unusual stratagem worked, though only partially. Master Mouth allowed the Autobots to go to the planet Femax to hunt down some crystals needed for the recipe, however, upon their return, Landmine would still get eaten. If the recipe proved as succulent as Cloudburst made it sound, the latter would get to walk away. In any case, the Mecannibals would hold onto Berko as collateral. Landmine wasn't too keen on these terms, but Cloudburst insisted he trust him, as they would figure out how to get him off the menu later.
Making their way to Femax, the Autobots found their entrance to the mountain kingdom being blocked by a solid steel door. Landmine easily bypassed the door by tunneling through the mountain itself using the astro-blasting power of his vehicle mode. Upon their intrusion however, the pair discovered that the barrier had been put in place to keep men out. Disguised as they were by their Pretender shells, Landmine and Cloudburst passed for Femaxian males, prompting the local warrior-women to attack them. Though Landmine's inherent hostility nearly escalated their situation, Cloudburst was able to convince the Femaxians' leader, the First One, of their good intentions. But the Femaxians valued physical skill above all else, and Cloudburst was selected to prove himself in a series of challenges, so that the initial misunderstanding could be forgiven. While she and Cloudburst err... discussed matters more intimately in her bed chamber, Landmine enjoyed regaling several other women with some war stories. His story time was interrupted when the First One erupted back out into the hall, brandishing the decapitated head of Cloudburst's inner robot. Under the impression that she had been deliberately misled by the Autobots, she sicced her warriors on Landmine to slaughter him as well. Though his first impulse was to take up arms, Landmine reminded himself that Cloudburst's methods had worked out better for them so far. By maintaining a cool head, the First One was talked back to her senses, and agreed to repair Cloudburst.
The Autobots finally got a hold of the crystals they needed and left the First One's domain. Before they could leave the planet, they were accosted by Darkwing and Dreadwind, only for these two to be immediately knocked out by Sky Lynx. Realizing that the Decepticons' binary bonded partners were Master Mouth's robot-spotters, the group returned to the Mecannibals' ship. There, they modified the deal they had made earlier: by holding Hi-Test and Throttle hostage, they assured both their own and Berko's safe release. In the end, however, their consciences got the best of them and they did not leave with the microchips they had initially purchased. Instead, the Pretenders insisted the Mecannibals rebuild the robots they had "recycled" into the microchips and raw materials they were selling. Their Autobot comrades simply wouldn't have wanted to be revived at the cost of others. However, as bonus information, Landmine and Cloudburst told Master Mouth of the Nebulans' partially-robotic nature, landing the Decepticons in a heap of trouble with their now former employers. Recipe for Disaster!
At some point, the Decepticon Pretenders Iguanus, Bomb-Burst and Skullgrin captured the Keeler Oil Terminal in the Gulf of Mexico. Cloudburst, Landmine and Splashdown were sent to stop them, though a stray shot from Skullgrin's shrapnel cannon sent a human jet hurtling out of control towards the oil rig. Cloudburst convinced Bomb-Burst to help save the jet (as it would also save the rig and coincidentally their lives) and once they had manoeuvred it to safety, he took the Decepticon into custody. The Chain Gang!
When the Air Strike Patrol terrorized MacDill Air Force Base, Optimus Prime took the full Autobot force down to confront them. Landmine was seen disembarking their All-Terrain Turbo-Transport Back from the Dead and standing behind Prime beside Cloudburst. When Scorponok's Decepticons arrived, accelerating the confrontation into an all-out battle, Landmine focused his efforts on Skullcruncher. The Resurrection Gambit! Prime ordered the Autobots back onto the ATTT to prevent further escalation, but Hot Rod disobeyed orders and returned to Prime's side as the ATTT left the ground, much to Landmine's frustration. All the Familiar Faces!
When the Autobots received a distress call from Earth's surface, Nightbeat assembled a combat team that included Hosehead, Siren, Landmine, Getaway, and himself. Under Optimus Prime's command, they rushed to Earth to help their fallen comrades, but there they found the Deathbringer, who had come to cleanse the planet of life. Landmine and the others fought valiantly, but were getting slaughtered. Nightbeat used its own programming against it, and the Deathbringer destroyed itself, removing Landmine and the others from further danger. Deathbringer
Sometime later, Landmine was the first Autobot to be deactivated battling Thunderwing and his newly-found power while possessing the Matrix. For a Transformer, that's like being literally struck down by the Hand of God, so it probably hurt A LOT. All Fall Down
Transformers Comic-Magazin
Regeneration One
More than twenty-one years after the end of the war between the Autobots and the Decepticons, Landmine fell victim to Scorponok's Gene Key and tried to throw Grapple off a balcony. Natural Selection, Part Three He went on to join the party hunting down the rogue Dinobots Sludge, Snarl and Swoop. Natural Selection, Part Four Landmine was present at the Sonic Canyons when the effects of the Gene Key were globally reversed. Natural Selection, Part Five
Dreamwave Generation One continuity
Landmine was the leader of the Autobot Pretenders. Landmine's More Than Meets The Eye profile
2005 IDW continuity
- First Appearance: Spotlight: Hardhead
Landmine, Cloudburst, Groundbreaker, and Waverider were sent to investigate the Benzuli Expanse, but discovered that any probes or drones entering the area immediately ceased to function. After reporting this to Jetfire, he volunteered them for the Pretender process as a means of safely entering the expanse. Spotlight: Hardhead
Cyclonus was later patrolling the Benzuli Expanse with Galvatron to look for those who would disturb the Expansion. Upon spotting Cloudburst's ship, Cyclonus called "dibs" and Galvatron happily let Cyclonus attack the vessel. Spotlight: Doubledealer Fortunately Landmine and the rest of the crew were rescued by the Technobots who transported them to their ship and presented them with new and improved Pretender shells. Now equipped to deal with the Dead Universe and its denizens, the four warriors finished off Cyclonus and entered the Benzuli Expanse, where they put the Nega-Cores once they were sent so that they would detonate inside the Dead Universe and destroy it. Spotlight: Sideswipe Everything in Its Right Place
Following the end of the war, Landmine became a crew member on the Lost Light. He helped secure a discarded thumb from Metroplex after it impacted the ship. Later, Landmine along with nearly everyone on board of the Lost Light were frozen in place due to one of Brainstorm's experimental weapons accidentally going off. After he recovered, he was awarded a Rodimus Star "for exceptional endurance in the face of adversity." The Reluctant Specialist He was hanging around in Shuttle Bay 3 when Ultra Magnus returned from a reconnaissance mission. Patternism During Overlord's rampage across the Lost Light, a wounded Landmine hunkered down in Swerve's, which was serving as a makeshift infirmary. No Guns, No Swords, No Briefcases
Power of the Primes marketing material
Landmine was a Prime Master who housed the spark energy of Alpha Trion, able to grant infinite knowledge abilities to other Transformers. Power of the Primes Landmine / Alpha Trion online bio
2019 IDW continuity
- First appearance: Transformers issue #9 (mentioned) Transformers issue #14 (full appearance)
Landmine once spearheaded an expedition into Cybertron's Sonic Canyons. However, their record-breaking descent into the planetary crust went wrong; a third of the way toward Cybertron's core, a cave-in stranded Landmine alone, deep underground. Although he survived and eventually returned to the surface, his adventure left him traumatized. The Change In Your Nature Part Two Lord of Misrule: Sea of Rust I
In the years leading up to the Great War, Landmine worked for Highbrow at the Academy of Research in Crystal City. Tremors There, he befriended Geomotus, a fellow geologist who looked up to Landmine because of his prior adventures, and the pair regularly worked together. While investigating some unusual readings at the planet's Metal Geysers, a sudden upsurge of tectonic activity provoked a violent eruption that melted their recording equipment. The Change In Your Nature Part Two
After a series of violent groundquake near Iacon, Landmine, Geomotus, Beachcomber, and Azimuth went out to explore the newly-formed fissures and encountered an angry Leviathan, who'd been stranded in one of the chasms. While trying to find a way to rescue the enormous Transformer without transforming her, the scientists encountered the rogue Triggerhappy, who shot Beachcomber. Using his vehicle mode, Landmine was able to trip up the airborne Decepticon before Windblade and the rest of her Security Operations taskforce arrived to dispatch Triggerhappy. Tremors
Many cycles later, after Megatron had overthrown the Senate and declared war on Optimus Prime and his Autobot followers, Landmine and Geomotus were sent to the Sea of Rust to investigate potential damage to its impermeable layer. While planting monitoring equipment, the pair encountered Termagax, who'd been hiding from Megatron's forces aboard her walking fortress in the deep wilderness. While the pair made themselves at home inside Termagax's main antechamber, the group came under attack from a swarm of Insecticon clones who'd been dispatched specifically to kill Termagax and seize the Enigma of Combination. Termagax's defenses eventually faltered, and the three might've perished had Sky Lynx not arrived with some Autobot reinforcements. Sea of Rust I As the Autobots repelled the swarm and dug in for a full-scale siege against Sixshot's forces, Wheeljack warned the pair to leave before things got ugly. Lord of Misrule: Sea of Rust II While fleeing the battle, however, Geomotus received a warning that the impermeable strata that divided the Sea of Rust from the rest of Cybertron was about to collapse. Enigmatic
Despite his misgivings, Landmine was tapped to lead an exploration team into the Sonic Canyons. Reports had surfaced that Exarchon the Threefold Spark may have returned, and both he and the Rise were known to use bases in the canyons. Landmine knew the terrain as well as anyone, and so the Autobots assigned him to guide Geomotus and Zetar to investigate, with Pointblank and Sureshot running security. Geomotus's probes uncovered hidden defense cannons, forcing the Autobots to dive deeper into the canyons for protection. Landmine and Geomotus soon found another unnatural formation, which turned out to be a hidden entrance. Unfortunately, the entrance then opened to reveal Exarchon in his imposing Deathsaurus body. War's End Part One Landmine and the others were caught in a small outcropping until Zetar tunneled them an exit, penetrating deeper into the Rise base they had uncovered. War's End Part Two While their security escorts scouted the base, Landmine and Geomotus hid away in a storage depot. Geomotus invited the stressed Landmine to look at his shapes with him, and Landmine was able to calm down with his friend's support. War's End Part Three
Their scouting mission became a major emergency as Exarchon fused a piece of his mitotic spark with a tunneling vehicle. He intended to drill down to Cybertron's core and inject his corrupting spark into the AllSpark, overtaking the living planet. Landmine and Geomotus guided Zetar on a path to intercept and destroy the tunneler. They were opposed by Soundblaster, Frenzy, and Rumble of the Rise, but caught up with the drill in a hollowed-out chamber. Landmine managed to halt the driller by ramming through it, allowing Zetar to deliver the finishing blow in a massive explosion that brought the roof down around them. As the Autobots prepared to escape, Landmine heard cries for help from Frenzy. The infiltration trooper had been trapped under some falling debris, and needed assistance. But Landmine remembered the reports that Frenzy was responsible for killing Brainstorm, the first murder on Cybertron since the war which set in motion the rise of the Decepticons and the fall of the Senate. Remembering his own trauma of being buried, Landmine decided Frenzy deserved to be buried and forgotten, as everything that was wrong with the new Cybertron. War's End Part Four
Landmine made his way to Darkmount and was among the Autobots who abandoned Cybertron aboard the last Ark. Fate of Cybertron
Commercial appearances
After a string of defeats, the Autobots conceived of the Pretenders to regain the advantage against the Decepticons. Upon Landmine, Waverider and Cloudburst's activation within an Autobot research facility, the trio came under attack from Dreadwind and Darkwing. The Autobot Pretenders quickly retaliated, sending the intruders fleeing after splitting from their shells. The Decepticons were quick to develop their own Pretender warriors however, and Landmine, Cloudburst and Waverider's meddle was once more tested, this time against opponents who also possessed Pretender shells. Landmine squared off against Skullgrin in the ensuing fight. Pretenders commercial
Toys
The Transformers
- Landmine (Pretender, 1988)
- Accessories: 2-piece Pretender shell, helmet, belt, "laser saber", "astro blaster"
- Known designers: Masakatsu Saito (concept artist)
- Released in the fifth year of the original The Transformers toyline (fourth in European markets) in the first assortment of Pretenders, Landmine transforms into a predominantly gray Cybertronic all terrain vehicle. The gray "astro blaster" can be stored on the top of the vehicle mode, and must be held in a weird side-grip in robot mode.
- His outer Pretender shell resembles a human in a yellow and gray armored space suit, armed with a gray sword and a gray blaster rifle. The shell's helmet and front-half of the belt are also removable, used to help "lock" the shell-halves together. This shell has very limited articulation, located in his shoulders.
- This mold — in exactly the same colors — was released in Japan as the Super-God Masterforce Pretender Lander.
Energon
- Landmine (Ultra, 2004)
- Takara ID number: SC-15
- Accessories: Trailer/battle station/backpack & gauntlets, missile
- Released in the second wave of Energon Ultra-class toys, Landmine transforms into an orange, blue, and grey Cybertronic half-track battlefield recovery vehicle. The front of the vehicle features a large plow while the rear has a rotating crane with a working winch, accompanied by a spring-loaded missile launcher. The front half of the vehicle can separate from the tracked portion as a smaller truck cab, and can transform into the standard robot. The tracked portion can then be reconfigured into a mini battle station that Landmine's robot mode can man. It can also be transformed into a small tank-like vehicle. Most of the crane is detachable, possibly for safety reasons, as it doesn't appear to attach anywhere else.
- In robot mode, Landmine has no weapons, but his standard 5 mm fists can hold any Energon weapons or other weapons sporting a compatible peg system. In the dead center of his chest is his spark crystal, over which an energon star can be attached. As a red Powerlinx Autobot, Landmine cannot combine with any other Autobot except for the rear "trailer" half of his vehicle, forming his brute mode. The tracks, with their flip-out digger claws, mount on his arms while the remaining portion forms a weapons backpack. Connecting the backpack to Landmine will depress a button which activates the classic Generation 1 transformation sound effect.
- The Japanese Superlink release removed the electronics from his brute mode backpack, and uses a different shade of blue plastic.
- This mold was later redecoed into "The Powerlinx Battles" Landquake and Timelines BotCon 2009 Landshark.
Power of the Primes
- Alpha Trion (Prime Master, 2018)
- TakaraTomy ID number: PP-32
- TakaraTomy release date: October 27, 2018
- Accessories: Landmine decoy armor, cannon
- Known designers: John Warden (Hasbro)
- Released in the second wave of Power of the Primes Prime Masters, Alpha Trion is a tiny robot (the same size and general construction of a Titan Master) that comes with a "decoy armor" based on Landmine's Pretender shell, which can transform into a large weapon-mode which can be held by other toys via 5 mm post. The flip-out "blaster" part can also detach from the armor and be held in its 3 mm-compatible hand.
- The inner Prime Master robot can store inside the decoy armor or ride Legends Class figures in vehicle mode, and is fully compatible with toys from the previous Titans Return line. The "Power Swap" gimmick means its spark form can plug onto any decoy armor's weapon form, Deluxe Class figures' chest armor, Voyager Class figures' bucklers, Leader Class figures' Matrix (in place of their Matrix core), combiners' torsos (in place of their Enigma of Combination), or the Scepter of Sparks. With the power of your imagination, this bestows the Prime Master's unique power on the larger figure.
- Quality control on the Landmine armor varies: many units' arm holes are slightly too small, warping the connector joints in-package and making the arms pop off when posing. Copies with normal-sized holes can be identified by viewing the package sideways to see whether the joints are warped. There have also been some reports of copies with just one flawed arm.
Notes
- Landmine/Lander's animation model shows up in the Armada episode "First Encounter" as a "generic", unnamed Cybertronian. He is seen carrying a "clipboard" of some kind and reacting to the Mini-Con beacon. He's also the only one in that shot seen clearly, the other three (Streetwise, Wideload, and Sixknight) all being seen only from the back and largely obscured.
- Landmine (or maybe Lander, we dunno) is on display at the Pop Century resort at Walt Disney World sans weapon and pretender shell.
- Due to Matt Frank being unaware of the Generation 1 toy, Landmine was mistakenly drawn according to the Energon toy design in the 2005 IDW story Spotlight: Trailcutter. This trend was followed by Beth McGuire-Smith in the 2019 IDW issue Transformers #14, where she gave Landmine a new design that combined elements of his original and Energon looks.
Foreign names
- Japanese: Landmine (ランドマイン Randomain)
- French: Sapeur (Canada, "Sapper")
- Hungarian: Gránátfej ("Grenadehead")
- Italian: Febos ("Phoebus")
