Depth Charge (BW)

Depth Charge is a Maximal from the Beast Era portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.

I'm Batmanta.

Depth Charge (also Depthcharge) was once an Imperial Peace Marshal whose territory was completely destroyed, and every robot under his protection slaughtered, by the malicious entity known as Protoform X. Since that fateful day, Depth Charge has lived for no other purpose than to enact justice (or vengeance) on X. His single-mindedness makes him a relentless hunter, stopping at nothing to prevent X from taking any more lives. His quest has more than taken its toll on Depth Charge, though; whatever he was before, he is now a joyless, hollow shell of a being. While he sometimes expresses sympathy for other beings and lends aid to his fellow Maximals, Depth Charge has clearly been consumed by his mission, and the destruction of Protoform X is now more important to him than the original reasons behind his quest.

Fiction

Beast Wars toy bios

Depth Charge would rather study military strategies then execute them, and he was commissioned by Optimus Primal to be the first line of defense against undersea aggressors. He is described as an inspired leader and dedicated warrior who battles ahead alongside his faithful platoon. Depth Charge bio Cybershark serves under him. Transmetal 2 Cybershark toy bio

Beast Wars cartoon continuity

Beast Wars cartoon

Voice actor: David Sobolov (English), Kiyoyuki Yanada (Japanese), Zhang Mingliang (Chinese), Affonso Amajones (Portuguese), Eduardo Borja (Latin American Spanish), Enrico Bertorelli (Italian)

Huh...suddenly, my hand smells like fish.

Depth Charge was in charge of security for Colony Omicron and had friends on Starbase Rugby, a place he rarely spent time on. All of this changed when Protoform X broke free on Omicron and went on a rampage. As the colony's sole survivor, Depth Charge made hunting down "X" his only mission in life. He spent four years hunting X across the galaxy, witnessing several of the maniac's massacres along the way—including at Starbase Rugby, where his friends were all devoured—before he finally captured him and turned him over to the Maximal High Council. Deep MetalNemesis Part 1 He wanted them to destroy Protoform X but the Council decided that Protoform X should be placed in stasis aboard the Axalon and dumped on an uninhabited world.

Believing (and telling them) that Optimus Primal would "blow it", Depth Charge continued to monitor the universe for any trace of Protoform X. The sensors on his Starhopper picked up traces of X just as Depth Charge was pulled through a temporal anomaly. The strange radiation of the wormhole-like disturbance sucked in his ship and Transmetalized his superstructure. The resulting crash left him on prehistoric Earth with a Transmetal manta ray body and put him right in the middle of the Beast Wars. His new body gave him a Cybershark drone, which he used to track down Protoform X, now known as Rampage.

The original Blu-ray.

His first battle with Rampage did not end particularly well, as Depth Charge did not expect that Rampage had joined up with the Predacons trapped on this world. Rescued and repaired by Optimus Primal's Maximals, Depth Charge was shocked by the presence of the Ark and acknowledged the grimness of their situation, but nonetheless disregarded Primal's request that he join them, so obsessive was his pursuit of Protoform X. In any case, Rampage decided Depth Charge's stay would be permanent by destroying the Starhopper. Deep Metal

His single-minded obsession soon ended up costing the Maximals a major strategic advantage. Optimus Primal had sent Rattrap to the bottom of the lake where the wreck of the Axalon lay in an attempt to retrieve the Sentinel defense system. Though Depth Charge initially helped Rattrap escape an attack from Rampage, he refused to help Silverbolt when the latter asked for assistance in recovering Sentinel from the Predacons. Depth Charge declared that it was their war, and he had his own war with Rampage to deal with. When he finally decided to help out, the lack of Maximal coordination led to Sentinel being seized for Megatron. Optimus Primal hauled Depth Charge into line for his unwitting interference, and they came to an agreement that the rogue Maximal would no longer operate purely as a free agent. Changing of the Guard

Depth Charge made good on his allegiance to Primal's crew when Megatron led an attack against the Ark while most of the Maximals were elsewhere. Just as the Predacon leader was about to secure his victory, Depth Charge burst into the volcano and almost single-handedly drove the attackers into retreat. Cutting Edge

Where does he get those wonderful bath toys?

However, Depth Charge's obsessive nature resurfaced when he came across Cheetor trying to dig out a badly damaged Optimus Primal. Disobeying orders, he followed his scanners to the coordinates of Rampage's indestructible spark, not realizing that he was actually detecting the half of Rampage's spark that Megatron was using in his organic Transmetal 2 experiment. Only when he faced Dinobot II, a Transmetal clone of the original Dinobot, did he learn that Rampage's spark inhabited two bodies. Cheetor and Depth Charge worked together to take the alien Transmetal driver from the organic Transmetal apparatus, but were blown away in a massive explosion when Cheetor was caught in the device's overload. Recovering only a small piece of Cheetor's chest plate, Depth Charge assumed his ally had been destroyed and reported to Optimus Primal that the young 'bot had "gone out fighting". Leaving Optimus to deal with his grief, Depth Charge had the alien transmetal driver scanned, then, determined to not allow Megatron to conduct his experiments again, threw it into the lava of the Ark's volcano. Soon afterward, the duality of Rampage's spark once again proved to be Depth Charge's downfall when he was lured into a trap by Dinobot II. Megatron demanded the Driver device back, but only received sarcasm for his trouble. Before the Predacons could make good on their threats to destroy Depth Charge, a strange, feral beast attacked and easily bested them all before being chased off by Optimus Primal's arrival. Feral Scream Part 1

When Cheetor returned and Optimus Primal determined that the strange beast was Cheetor, changed somehow, the Maximal leader called Depth Charge in for a little chat, demanding to know what really happened on the mountaintop. As usual, Depth Charge told him where he could stick his questions, forcing Primal to resort to his impressive physical strength and size. Depth Charge finally relented when Primal threatened to extract the data personally from the former's core processor, and apologised that he had destroyed the alien device, not knowing what Cheetor had become. Feral Scream Part 2

Hi-ho Silverfish! Away!

Later, Megatron and Tarantulas teamed up for their latest crazy scheme: a new disruptor ray cannon powered by a "bi-polar energon source", capable of destroying the Maximals in their base from afar without harming the Ark. However, as the energy source was installed without adequate shielding, the Predacons couldn't get near the machine they had erected. In order to complete the weapon, Tarantulas suggested "recruiting" the two educated anthropoids on whom he happened to have been spying. Depth Charge arrived to assist Cheetor just as Una was captured by Waspinator, and he was forced to go on a rescue mission with Rattrap to retrieve the anthropoid girl. However, Depth Charge was blasted out of the sky by a low-power test of the disruptor array and had to sit out the rest of the mission on the side of a hill. After Rattrap returned with Una, Depth Charge still hadn't recovered from his damage and had to be pushed into the water so he could transform into beast mode and escape. When Megatron attempted to fire the disruptor cannon, Rattrap and Depth Charge discovered that Una had removed the stabilizer crystal from the cannon, thus rendering it dangerously unstable and causing the destruction of the weapon. In the aftermath, Depth Charge suggested going back to finish off the helpless Predacons, but Rattrap pointed out that they weren't in any condition to pick a fight. As they floated home, Rattrap jokingly pointed his gun at Depth Charge and asked Una if Cheetor ever showed her his recipe for "fried flounder", earning him a bonk on the head from Depth Charge's tail. Go with the Flow

Depth Charge was on patrol when the Predacons attacked the Maximal base with a remote-controlled Optimus Primal. Megatron sent Dinobot II out to dispose of him. Master Blaster Obviously, he failed.

You've sung "Under the Sea" for the last time!

After the Predacon base was destroyed by Tigerhawk, Other Victories Depth Charge spotted the Predacons skulking around the late Tarantulas's lair. His lust for vengeance again came to the detriment of the Maximals when he disobeyed Optimus Primal's orders and opened a booby-trapped hatch, resulting in Silverbolt being severely damaged. However, when he was called forth to stop Megatron from launching the legendary Decepticon warship Nemesis, he followed the order instantly, for even he knew how important it was to stop Megatron. Ironically, it was Rampage who found Depth Charge on this mission and forced him into battle. They fought, their battle intensified by nearby raw Energon crystals throughout the terrain.

As Depth Charge attempted to shove an energon shard into Rampage's spark, Rampage released Depth Charge's hands and laughed maniacally, allowing his rival to impale his spark, detonating it and destroying the both of them. Nemesis Part 1

3H comics

DO I LOOK LIKE A COP?!

When Optimus Primal was brought before Alpha Trion and Primus and told to select any Cybertronians, past or present, to form the foundations of a new army that would take the fight for the multiverse to Unicron himself, Depth Charge was chosen by Primal, along with Rhinox. Depth Charge was less than thrilled about being brought back to life, telling Primal that after his long years of torment, he had finally found peace within the Matrix, only to be dragged back into the fray. He departed from the chamber of Primus, wanting nothing to do with the coming conflict.

Depth Charge was stunned to see the recently reformatted technorganic surface of Cybertron, which he reckoned was finally at peace with itself. Of course, seconds later, he found Rattrap in the Undercity at the mercy of the Unicron-corrupted Blackarachnia. Depth Charge drove the spider off, but, now sickened by violence, refused to help any further, despite Rattrap pointing out that something big was clearly afoot.

Retreating into the Rust Sea, Depth Charge found that he wasn't going to have much choice, as he found himself face-to-face with a legion of Blackarachnia's Piranacons... Homecoming

Depth Charge apparently changed his mind at some point and joined King Atlas in running a secret refugee network within Unicron's body.^[1]

2006 IDW Beast Wars continuity

Fresh off an outrageous adventure with Aquaman, we hope.

Depth Charge was observed emerging from the water by Magmatron and Drill Bit. Due to their chronal displacement, they could see him, but he could not see them. The Gathering #1

Waspscream continuity

In Primax 208.06 Zeta, the returning spacefarer Depth Charge joined Waspscream's Predacons in the Spark War against Megatron's Vehicons. He had significant issues, however, with working alongside Protoform X. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/08/16

Beast Wars: Uprising

His former cardplaying buddies were, unfortunately, tasty.

In a universe where the Autobots and Decepticons had constructed the Maximals and Predacons as proxy armies to continue a never-ending war, the Autobot elders assigned the Maximal Depth Charge to hunt and capture Protoform X. After nearly nine stellar cycles and the deaths of twelve colleagues, Depth Charge succeeded. Returning to Cybertron, he was given a new task. The Maximals Blackarachnia and Nightscream killed their commander, Optimus Primal, and Depth Charge was sent to pursue the fugitives. Following their transwarp journey with his own transwarp device, Depth Charge ended up in Axiom Nexus. Tracking his quarry led him to Alpha Trion and Topspin, who claimed that Topspin had extinguished the four fugitives' sparks after they tried to betray Trion. Although something seemed off about their story, the sight of four sparkless bodies led Depth Charge to conclude that his hunt was over, though he had no way of returning home. Timelines Depth Charge profile card Depth Charge's profile in Club magazine #49

After settling in the TransTechs' universe, Depth Charge played cards with a number of other assorted Transformers. He was soon asked by Optimus Prime and Optimus Prime for his help and the use of his tracking skills. He accepted. Invasion: Epilogue

Jumping from Nexus 208.0 Epsilon to Primax -408.24 Epsilon, Depth Charge arrived on prehistoric Earth in time to join Ultra Magnus and his team in battle with the Decepticons. Though Depth Charge's contribution to the fight started well, he was blasted to the ground by Megatron. Before the Decepticon leader could finish him off, Ultra Magnus came to Depth Charge's aid, and as they retreated, Depth Charge informed them that he was there to discuss saving the multiverse. Shattered Expectations

As they were pursued by the Decepticons, Depth Charge was ready to stand and fight with Ultra Magnus, but joined the other Autobots in traversing a narrow rock bridge while Magnus dealt with Megatron. Back at the Autobots' ship, Depth Charge explained he had come in search of a certain Matrix. Shattered Paths Depth Charge's probes were tied in to the "Maximal" ship sensors, though he was disgruntled about them being used to search for the missing energy purifier as well as the Matrix. While the other Maximals went to get the purifier, Depth Charge remained on the ship and was monitoring the probe readings when they detected the Matrix. Shattered Hope

Leaving a message for the others, he went to investigate and ran afoul of the security system protecting the Matrix. The Maximals arrived in time to help, and they held off the attacking security system while Magnus retrieved the Matrix, only to find themselves confronted by Megatron in a huge mech. Shattered Balance During the ensuing battle, the Maximals were temporarily taken out of action by Megatron's Gigastorm Armor. Ultra Magnus was forced to create a dimensional rift that sucked the combatants through, however Depth Charge opted to stay on prehistoric Earth, as he had new problems to deal with. Shattered Destiny Timeless

Depth Charge aided the crew of the Darksyde in their own Beast Wars against the evil crew of the Axalon. After the conflict was over, the Graviton and Talon were scrapped and salvaged to make a new shuttle for the heroes to leave aboard. Depth Charge and Waspinator were delayed by the natives, however, and missed the launch. They traveled together for tens of thousands of years before crossing paths with the Buoyancy in the 21st century. Coalescence

2005 IDW continuity

No Rampage in his way to the Nemesis this time...

Depth Charge was one of Onyx Prime's Maximals that fell under the command of Unicron following the Primes' defeat. He led a group of aquatic Maximals to attack G.I. Joe's headquarters only to be chased away by Skywarp's group. Last Stand

Games

Transformers Legends

Depth Charge stumbled upon Waspinator and Terrorsaur fighting Rampage, newly emerged from his stasis pod. Seeking revenge over the slaughter of his old friends, Depth Charge joined the fray. When Blackarachnia and Silverbolt, who had previously been blown away by Rampage's attack rejoined the battle as well, the ensemble of bots managed to defeat Rampage. When Sparks Fly

Transformers: Battle Tactics

Depth Charge participated in battles against a variety of opponents, both Autobots and Decepticons. Sometimes there were many of him! He appeared in two different bodies:

• Depth Charge Transmetal—This Epic character was available as a reward in the "Transmetals: Beast Wars - Episode 2" stronghold event.
• Depth Charge—This Epic character was available in the November Daily Campaign and could be recruited by collecting 20 Alpha cores, 20 Beta Cores, 20 Omega cores, and 10 cores of this character.

Transformers: Battle Tactics

Toys

Beast Wars

Eh. Still smells like fish.

• Depth Charge (Ultra Transmetal, 1998)

• Takara ID number: C-46
• Accessories: Torpedo launcher/Cybershark Drone, 7 "shrapnel grenades", 2 "proton torpedoes" and manta tail/"energon-cutlass"
• Known designers: Daniel Sanfilippo (deco artist), Masakatsu Saito (concept artist)

Part of the first wave of third-year Beast Wars Ultras, Transmetal Depth Charge transforms into a robotic manta ray, and a third mode called a "space-cruiser"^[2] or "air skimmer"^{[citation needed]}. The very end of his tail detaches to form a sword/harpoon. In all modes, his robot chest/manta mouth is a spring-loaded, gravity-fed disc launcher with 7 "Shrapnel Grenade" disks (or "power pizzas", as Cheetor calls them). He comes with a "cybershark" drone-unit that has two spring-loaded missile launchers in its mouth. This drone can attach to Depth Charge's manta/space-cruiser modes or be used as a hand-held weapon in robot mode. Due to his back kibble, he is difficult to balance in robot mode, and is in fact designed to use the stump of the manta tail as a tripod leg.

"Metals Depth Charge" in Takara's Beast Wars Metals line is identical to the Hasbro release; unlike the vast majority of the Metals toys, he retained his "DEPTHCHARGE"[sic] name tampograph rather than having it replaced with the generic "CYBERTRON". A "presale" version sold in conjunction with 1999 Summer Toei Anime Fair has two differences—the manta ray eyes are painted green, and the blue highlights on his manta ray head are purple, to match when these colors are seen in certain shots (most of them underwater) in the cartoon.

• More information on Depth Charge at TFU.info

• Kaitei no Taiketsu: Metals Depth Charge Vs. Metals Inferno (Multi-pack, 1999)

• ID number: VS-46
• Accessories: Torpedo launcher/Cybershark Drone, 7 "shrapnel grenades", 2 "proton torpedoes" and manta tail/"energon-cutlass"

For his Beast Wars Metals release, Depth Charge was available both individually and in a very large "Showdown at the Ocean Bottom" (海底の対決 Kaitei no Taiketsu) double-pack with Metals Inferno.

Both toys were identical to their individual releases.

Universe (2003)

Boba Wett.

• Depthcharge (Ultra, 2004)

• Accessories: Torpedo launcher/Cybershark Drone, 5 "shrapnel grenades", 2 "proton torpedoes" and manta tail/"energon-cutlass"
• Known designers: Marcelo Matere (packaging artist)

"Depthcharge" was redecoed for the Universe line into a series of dark drab greens, maroons, and black, with paint-wash effects on his wings. The toy had several small changes made for safety reasons. On the main toy, the cephalic lobes (the front manta-ray-mouth thingies) were cast in a much more pliable plastic. The tail of his cybershark drone was also changed to pop off as a separate piece; this also allows it to spin and makes it easier for Depthcharge to hold it in robot mode. The discs were given a much thicker, rounder border as well, and their number was reduced from 7 to 5.

• More information on Universe Depth Charge at TFU.info

Timelines

"I'll chase him 'round the moons of Nebulos and 'round the Devastator Winds and 'round the Pit's flames before I give him up."

• Depth Charge (TFCC incentive figure, 2013)

• Accessories: Trident/spear

Timelines Depth Charge is a redeco of Hunt for the Decepticons Deluxe Class Terradive, and transforms into a forward-swept wing fighter jet based on the Sukhoi Su-47. In robot mode, he is armed with a polearm weapon, which can transform between a trident and a spear and stores via C joint clip on his underside in jet mode, or on the back of his left shoulder in robot mode. (This clip is a bit of a reversal from the norm, as the clip is permanently attached to the robot, and the spear weapon is the 3mm bar.) As his jet thrusters swing around to become his hands, they can be left in vehicle configuration to simulate blasters. The head has magenta light piping that appears nerfed due to the red paint on the eyes, but the paint is thin enough that light still shines through.

Depth Charge is the 2013 Transformers Collectors' Club free figure, mailed to new or returning club members who got their registration in before the deadline of March 16, 2013. While the freebie Depth Charges were sent out in standard mailer boxes, the figure was also sold by the club in blister card packaging, debuting at BotCon 2013 as a souvenir item for convention guest David Sobolov to sign.

This toy was retooled to make Dark of the Moon Space Case.

• More information on Timelines Depth Charge at TFU.info

Merchandise

First 4 Figures

• Depth Charge (2006/2007 unreleased)

This was to be an at-least-8-inch tall resin bust of Depth Charge released as part of a Beast Wars tenth anniversary series by model company First 4 Figures. Depth Charge would have been sculpted to be accurate to his Beast Wars cartoon design, and would likely have been depicted from the waist and upwards on a base or pedestal. His digital sculpt was shown to toy news sites by First 4 Figures at New York Toy Fair in February 2006,^[3] and the company had also allowed BigBadToyStore to solicit him for sale.^[4][5]

Mini busts in the planned Beast Wars line were designed to reflect the scale of the characters as seen in the cartoon; Depth Charge was solicited as the most expensive bust in the series by BigBadToyStore,^[5] suggesting he was going to be accurately big compared to the others. Each was set to be limited to 1,996 pieces, in a nod to the franchise's year of origin.^[3] Unfortunately, Depth Charge and the rest of the Beast Wars bust line were cancelled, with First 4 Figures citing a challenging marketplace and lack of retailer interest.

Proceed on your way to oblivion. This item has been canceled, with no current plans for release.

Notes

• Depth Charge had a penchant for referring to his enemies as "Creep". Coincidentally, his voice actor, David Sobolov, was also voicing Robocop, famous for using the same term, in the syndicated animated series Robocop: Alpha Commando at the same time the character was introduced.
• In the jovial Japanese dub of Beast Wars, nearly all the characters were given bizarre quirks with the intention of inserting extra "comedy" elements. Depth Charge had a habit of singing "Ito Maki-maki", a Japanese folk song, while transforming. The words translate to "Wind the Thread" (it's a fishing song, get it?), although it doubly refers to his Manta Ray alt mode, called (Oni) Itomaki Ei.
• Depth Charge's severed head can be seen in the junkyard in the "Spark of Darkness" episode of Beast Machines, precisely 5 minutes and 3 seconds into the episode.
• Depth Charge's "air skimmer" mode resembles a TIE fighter from the Star Wars franchise, also held at the time by Kenner.^[6]
• Depth Charge appeared in manta ray mode in a promotional image for the Transformers Legends online manga, but never appeared until the final story. (He's seen holding a toy of Armada Megatron—maybe he was intended to be a big fan of the Unicron Trilogy, or a sly reference to the fact both characters were voiced by Kiyoyuki Yanada?)

Foreign names

• Japanese: Depth Charge (デプスチャージ Depusu Chāji)
• French: Deathcharge (France), Torpille (Canada, "Torpedo")
• Italian: Mantas (toy), Abysses (cartoon)
• Mandarin: Mó-guěi Yǘ (Taiwan, 魔鬼魚, "Manta Ray", lit. "Devil Fish"), Jí Xiānfēng (China, 急先锋, "Daring Vanguard")
• Polish: Głębinobot ("Abyssalbot")
• Portuguese: Profundeza (Brazil, "Depth")
• Spanish: Manta Raya (Latin America)

References