Nautilator

Nautilator is a Decepticon Seacon from the Generation 1 continuity family.

Your music's bad and you should feel bad!

Nautilator is a genuine card-carrying bungler in every conceivable way, shape and form. Anguished, rage-filled bellows of "Nautilatooooooooorrrr!!!" echo endlessly throughout the corridors of the Decepticon Headquarters, as both his peers and superiors struggle in vain to cope with his brand of oafish buffoonery. A total train-wreck of a soldier, Nautilator can hardly manage to swim, much less follow complicated instructions within an aquatic environment (traits that aren't helped by his unfortunate tendency to rust if submerged for too long). It is often said that the only positive quality he brings to the table is his inexplicable ability to return from the ocean depths with objects of value... but only after he's sunk himself there and had to be rescued.

Of course, if one were to question Nautilator as to why he's such an incompetent doofus, he'd be quick to point a claw at anyone but himself. After all, it's certainly not his fault that the pencil-pushing eggheads at Decepticon Command chose to turn him into a lobster when he clearly had no deep sea combat training of any kind (or at the very least, they could have issued him some floaties).

When he isn't sinking to the bottom of the Atlantic, Nautilator can combine with his fellow Seacons to form Piranacon. Due to his incompetence degrading the gestalt's efficiency, he mostly forms the weapon for Piranacon.

Fiction

Marvel Comics continuity

Marvel The Transformers comics

As performed by Joey Lawrence, apparently.

When Shockwave's Earthbound Decepticons established their new undersea base, Nautilator and the Seacons were summoned from Cybertron to work on the base's fortifications, as they were uniquely suited for underwater activity. They got more than they bargained for when the super-Decepticon Galvatron came a'calling. In the battle, Nautilator managed to sneak up on Galvatron and grip his head in one of his pincers, only for Galvatron to break his grip and hurl him away. In the end, even the combined might of Piranacon couldn't beat Galvatron, and the Seacons were left laying unconscious on the sea bed. Enemy Action!

At some point, the Aerialbots shot down Dreadwing over the ocean while he was carrying a vital power source. Optimus Prime and the Autobot Powermasters descended to retrieve it but were ambushed by Nautilator and the Seacons, who had the upper hand in their home environment. Prime ordered Hi-Q and the other Nebulans to take the power source and return to the surface, but with that gone the Seacons decided that rather than press their advantage against the Autobots, they couldn't afford to let Hi-Test and Throttle drown and rescued them instead. Dreadwing Down!

After Shockwave was deposed, the new commander Ratbat kept the Seacons on retainer for another mission. The Seacons were commissioned to hunt down a sunken shipwreck in the Caribbean Sea around the Decepticon undersea base, a wreck which supposedly contained two Autobot cassettes with valuable information encoded on them. They successfully obtained the treasure chest containing the cassettes and, despite a brief theft by the Autobot Blaster, managed to recapture the prize and return it to their leader. Club Con!

With their headquarters relocated to the Arctic, Nautilator and the other Seacons were the first to respond to the arrival of Scorponok's ship, even combining into Piranacon to attack the encroaching craft. After all involved realized they were on the same side, they attempted to join forces. Though relations between Ratbat and Scorponok's were tenuous at best, further manipulations by Starscream pushed them into entering a Decepticon Civil War. Cold War! Unfortunately for them, this was all part of a sequence of events orchestrated by the treacherous Starscream in order to acquire the Underbase for himself. The Autobots and Decepticons of Earth were forced to unite in order to stop him from seizing ultimate power. The Seacons attacked Starscream in unison in the waters around Manhattan, but were destroyed in a single energy discharge. Dark Star

Earthforce

Sometime later, Megatron traveled back in time and possessed the body of Seacon leader Snaptrap during the Underbase Saga, in an attempt to save them in the past to bolster his troops in the present. He failed due to the intervention of Prowl, and the Seacons met their fate as before. Flashback!

Transformers Comic-Magazin

The characteristics of Nautilator and the other "Small Targetmaster Seacons" were reviewed by Optimus Prime and Bumblebee in a simulation watched by Goldbug. Memories of Bumblebee

Classics

When Bludgeon detected an apparent traitor in his organization, he assembled Snaptrap, Nautilator and the Seacons to face the betrayer. Unfortunately, their target was Hun-Grrr, leader of the Terrorcons, and Terrorcons stick together. Literally. As Abominus formed inside the Decepticon armory, Nautilator and the others took aim at the giant's weak points, but were unable to break up the combination robot. The Seacons then switched tactics, forming their own giant warrior, Piranacon. Overbite remained separate from his fellows and, after the initial bout of grappling and melee, lept into the fray in his stormsurge cannon mode, blasting Abominus in the face with a foot-wide blast of corrosive fluid.

The enraged behemoth continued fighting back, knocking Piranacon to the floor. Nautilator slipped free from the combination form and joined Overbite behind Abominus. The smaller warriors were beneath Abominus's notice until they concentrated their firepower on his lower leg, bringing him down. As Overbite and Nautilator reconnected with Piranacon, the latter shifted into weapons mode and further disabled Abominus with a blast from his torpedo cannon. One final swipe from Piranacon's coral blade, and Abominus was finished.

Believing the imminent battle with Megatron's Decepticon forces was compromised, Bludgeon summoned the Seacons to his command centre to prep for the attack. Bludgeon was so enthralled with analyzing the attack pattern of Megatron's incoming ships that he failed to notice the Seacons merge once more. The real traitors, they formed Piranacon and obliterated Bludgeon using their mass compression cannon before alerting Megatron's forces that the area was secure. At Fight's End

As the universe was obliterated, Nautilator was aboard the Talon which was pulled into an alternate universe. The Talon crashed on prehistoric Earth, much to Megatron's displeasure, and both Nautilator and Tentakil were sent outside to secure the area. The pair spotted a herd of buffalo, but before they could open fire, they were both incapacitated by energon radiation. Moments later, the herd trampled them to pieces. Shattered Time

Dreamwave Generation One continuity

Nautilator was so incompetent that his fellow Seacons preferred to relegate him into taking on the Targetmaster role when combining, since this meant they didn't have to mentally merge with him. They discovered that when he did participate in the primary gestalt, Piranacon's effectiveness was noticeably impaired. More than Meets the Eye #5

G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers

And the judges say it's a 6.4

While making his way through the Gladiator Zone, Nautilator found himself under attack by the Predacons, who were none too happy about the Seacon intruding on their territory. Nautilator retreated to his comrades and combined with them, leading to a fight between Piranacon and Predaking. Piranacon was defeated, but before the Predacons could finish the Seacons off, they were interrupted by Serpent O.R. The Art of War #2

As Piranacon, the Seacons helped capture the Autobots and G.I. Joes that had followed Serpent O.R. to Cybertron, then fought Omega Supreme during an attack on an Autobot peace ceremony. The Art of War #3 Piranacon was defeated when Sixshot rammed into his face, and Nautilator and Breakdown were subsequently assigned to guard the humans. Unfortunately, while the two were curiously inspecting Snake-Eyes and Scarlett, the ninja prisoner hypnotized Breakdown into gunning down poor Nautilator. The Art of War #4

Hearts of Steel

Don't look at robot crab. He's shy

Like his fellow Seacons, Nautilator was awakened from his slumber on the bottom of the ocean by an Elder God's servants and brought to their underground city. Infestation 2: The Transformers #1

2005 IDW continuity

• First Appearance: Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #12

"Hello, is that Snap Trap? It's, er, me Megatron calling. Give Nautilator a raise."

Following the end of the Autobot/Decepticon war, Snap Trap's group, including Nautilator, invaded Temptoria in search of resources. They set up "The Battery" and began using pink alchemy to convert the natives into energon. When the Autobots arrived, Nautilator was on watch and called Blip in to show him what was happening. Blip was at first too distracted by the fact that Nautilator sounded exactly like Megatron to look at the monitor. During the fight, Nautilator had the misfortune of going up against Whirl and attempted to surrender. Whirl was likewise amused at Nautilator's voice and attempted to do an impression of Optimus Prime before getting annoyed and blowing the Decepticon's head apart. Before & After

Some time later, Brainstorm rebuilt his Early Early Warning System with the ability to do famous voices; on hearing it say "Peace through—oh my god look out!", Nautica claimed to recognise the voice as belonging to Nautilator. Sardines

2019 IDW continuity

First appearance: Transformers #20

"Ohhh, why universe hate Nautilator?"

Nautilator attended an illegal skitter race at Swindle's. Swindle's Nautilator was part of a crowd of Decepticons who watched Termagax denounce them (and Megatron in particular) for twisting her ideals. Awakenings He was sent on a mission to free prisoners from a lightly-guarded detention center and annoyed Skytread by bringing up gossip about Skytread being replaced by Sixshot as commander of the Decepticon Guard. Hunt

Nautilator was part of a group of Decepticons sent to keep anyone from interfering with Cyclonus' assassination attempt on Pyra Magna. He didn't expect to have to contend with the Companions and was quickly overwhelmed by Rust Dust, barely managing to limp away from the more experienced soldiers in the end. We Are Not Meant To Be Darkness

Nautilator visited the reopened Swindle's with Twirl and Refraktor. The threesome were singled out by Trickdiamond as inebriated enough to share information when Nautilator and Twirl took to dancing on a table. Swindle later gave them some of his special engex blend, to make them even more talkative. After Refraktor passed out, Swindle was able to discover the location of the Enigma of Combination from Nautilator and Twirl. Swindle's II Nautilator later deployed with the entire Decepticon Guard under Sixshot's command to the Sea of Rust. They engaged the Autobots in a battle to seize the Enigma from Termagax.Sea of Rust II

After a group of Autobots infiltrated Iacon and holed up in Swindle's, Nautilator was one of the Decepticons who gathered outside to raid the joint. Darkness, Once Gazed Upon: Part Two Nautilator joined the Decepticons for the final push against the Autobots at Darkmount. Fate of Cybertron

Commercial appearances

• Nautilator and the Seacons attacked a M.A.R.S. Industries submarine deep underwater. They then combined into Piranacon to wreak havoc in a city. Seacons commercial

Games

Transformers Legends

Using a storm as cover, Nautilator and the other Seacons attempted to steal oil from an off-shore oil platform. Upon arrival, they were confronted by Waverider and Seaspray. Once the weather subsided, the Seacons were forced to retreat as Autobot reinforcements could now come to aid defend the platform. Deadly Depths Overbite and Nautilator attacked a coastal town, hoping to secure some research, but they were seen off by Pipes and his team. The B-Team Part Deux

Transformers: Battle Tactics

Why get Nautilator if we can get naughty now?

Nautilator participated in battles against a variety of opponents, both Autobots and Decepticons. Sometimes there were many of him! He was a Rare character available as a reward in the "Piranacon Hunt" event. Transformers: Battle Tactics

Transformers Roleplaying Game

Nautilator was a member of the Seacons. Decepticon Directive

Toys

The Transformers

Tastes great with butter.

• Nautilator (Seacon, 1988)

• Team ID number: SE3
• Accessories: triple crusher cannon, left & right lobster-claws, tripod rifle, connector, weapon stand base

Released in the fifth year of the original Transformers toyline (fourth year in the European line), Nautilator transforms into a robot lobster. In this mode he features an opening jaw (which lobsters ain't got) with a 5 mm post-hole on the "tongue" area; his "triple crusher cannon" accessory goes here for a kind of awkward "attack monster" mode. He also has a third Targetmaster mode,^[1] a "heat-seeking torpedo cannon" that can be mounted on the weapon stand formed from the "tripod rifle" and other accessories, or held in the hand of the Seacons' combined robot.

His beast mode lobster-claws are not really meant to be separate accessories and are not listed as such in his instructions, but they are easily removable, and therefore often missing from loose samples, and therefore we list them as accessories.

As a "Scramble City"-style combiner, he can form an arm or leg to any compatible robot combination, or the hand-held cannon to any combiner equipped with Piranacon's unique fists (minus the whole tripod-rifle assembly, of course). The instructions that come with each Seacon show him as Piranacon's right leg, but the majority of his media depictions have him as the right arm.

Nautilator was notably left out of the Piranacon gift set, presumably a cost/manufacturing issue to keep it within the standardized gift set packaging size and price tag. This set's instructions put Overbite in his place as the right leg (but the box-art puts Skalor there; Piranacon's whole right-side-limb/gun-bots situation's kind of a mess).

This toy was concurrently sold in Takara's Super-God Masterforce line as Lobclaw.

• More information on Nautilator at TFU.info

Timelines

For the seafood lover in you!

• Piranacon (Multi-pack, 2008)

• Accessories: cannon, left & right lobster-claws, long rifle, connector, weapon stand base

A redeco of the mold above, Timelines Nautilator was available exclusively as part of a Transformers Collectors' Club exclusive set containing all six Seacons in new color schemes. His weapon mode is now called a "Coral Cannon".

The set is packaged with a reproduction of the original Piranacon instructions, which show Skalor as the right arm, Seawing as the left arm, and Nautilator as the right leg. However, the box art and on-package photos show Nautilator as the right arm and Skalor as the right leg, while the accessory layout gives the right fist to Seawing and the left fist to Nautilator. Confused yet?

This toy was originally intended as an exclusive set of Energon-series Terrorcons, but was shelved due to a lack of retailer interest. The team were going to be called the "Piranhacons" with their combined form as "Piranhaking", though the individual components would have retained their original names.

• More information on Timelines Nautilator at TFU.info

Transformers (2010)

For all your nautilation needs.

• Decepticon Piranacon (Multi-pack, 2010)

• Accessories: cannon, left & right lobster-claws, long rifle, connector, weapon stand base

All six Seacons were released as a "shared exclusive" for several online toy merchants (BigBadToyStore in particular), in... well, close to its original colors. Unlike the previous 1988 version gift set, the set now includes all the Seacons: Snaptrap, Overbite, Seawing, Skalor, Tentakil, and Nautilator.

Most of the aqua-blue plastics have been changed to a more greenish seafoam color (Skalor and Tentakil retain their original aqua colors (or close enough)). The stickers, now pre-applied, also appear to have been remastered after a fashion, as new highlights and gradients have been added to almost all stickers, as well as just being remarkably crisp and vibrant in general. Previous screwed-on connectors have been changed to riveted points.

Just like the previous use of the mold set, certain degradations of the mold are very obvious, although the 5mm holes and pegs have been readjusted somewhat from the much degraded state they were in on the Timelines release. The pegs and holes on all figures still are not exact fits in all cases, however.

The set is packaged in a way reminiscent of the Hasbro Masterpiece-style transparent display box. The toys are fully combined in Piranacon mode, holding Overbite's Targetmaster mode in his right hand and Snaptrap's newly-chromed incendiary sword in the left. The set also includes seven metallic-finish bio cards (the seventh being for Piranacon).

The set is packaged with Nautilator as the right leg and Skalor as the right arm, a combination also reflected in the new packaging art, box photo and instructions. However, the Piranacon card included with the set reuses the original box art, which depicts Skalor as the right leg and Nautilator as the right arm. Confused yet?

• More information on 2010 Nautilator at TFU.info

Kre-O

BLOCK LOBSTER!

• Decepticon Piranacon (Micro-Changer Combiner, 2013)

• Set number: A4475
• Pieces: 95
• Known designers: Ed Masiello (Hasbro)

Kre-O Micro-Changer Kreon Nautilator can be rebuilt from a robot into a lobster. He can also contribute his bricks to form Piranacon: his torso forms the super robot's midriff, while his legs form Pirancaon's right "hand".

For some reason, he uses the "human" Kreon style arms with smaller and rounder shoulders, rather than the blockier-shouldered arms that most Transformer Kreons use.

Nautilator was only available as part of the Piranacon combiner set, along with Overbite, Snaptrap, and Tentakil, sold in the second wave of Combiner sets.

• More information on Nautilator at TFU.info

Generations Selects

BLOT LOBSTER!

• Seacons Lobclow [sic] (Deluxe, 2020)

• Release date: February 29, 2020
• Hasbro ID number: TT-GS06
• Accessories: laser gun, hatchet, tail/gun, combiner hand/gun mode handle, hand gap filler/gun

A TakaraTomy-initiated addition to the Generations Selects series, "Seacons Lobclaw" is an extensive retooling of Power of the Primes Deluxe Class Terrorcon Blot, transforming into a robotic lobster-monster.

Just as with his original toy, he is able to form any limb for any Combiner Wars-style super robot, with his nominal place as the right arm to King Poseidon, plus he also retains his artillery mode, which can again be used as a hand-held cannon by compatible combiners. Like the other Generations Selects Seacons, Lobclaw has newly-tooled combiner hands with individually-posable fingers, which also form the base of the Targetmaster-style gun mode, with the handle being a Combiner Wars styled port that plugs in to the hand provided in this set. The hand can be plugged into the back of the tail in beast mode, or as the back of the feet in the combined mode, whilst Turtler's feet components are at the front. He also has a new axe, which combines with the other Seacons' melee weapons to form King Poseidon's oversized trident-sword. Unlike the G1 toy and his anime model, his Lobster claws are colored the same blue as his body, not grey, so they are the correct color in robot mode.

Lobclaw was released as a TakaraTomy Mall exclusive in Japan, as part of the second of three mini-waves of Seacons alongside Overbite. The Seacons were also available via Hasbro Pulse and other online retailers in the U.S. and Canada.

This tooling also served as the model for the comic-only appearance of Lawbhammer in the Generations Selects finale prelude.

Notes

Look, Ma, no backpack!

• How big a screw-up is Nautilator? Well, he was left out of the US/UK Piranacon gift set and he's the only Seacon not to be redecoed for the Beast Wars II subgroup. He wasn't even drawn in the super-robot art. He would eventually receive a "virtual redeco" as Lawbhammer in 2020... a redeco who was already dead by the time he appeared.
• Nautilator has the worst backpack kibble of the Seacons, but you wouldn't know it from reading the Marvel Generation 1 comic. Artist José Delbo must have only had art of Nautilator's front, since he drew Nautilator from the back twice, and not only are his lobster head and claws not there, but it's a different set of details each time.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Nautilator (ノーティレーター Nōtirētā)
• French: Nautile (Canada)
• Italian: Medusa ("Jellyfish")

References